storyknifing

English

Etymology

story +‎ knifing or storyknife +‎ -ing

Noun

storyknifing (uncountable)

1. A traditional Yup'ik play activity of young girls in which they tell stories accompanying them with illustrations scratched in the mud, sand, or snow using a storyknife or stick.
   • 1994, Jaipaul L. Roopnarine, James Ewald Johnson, Frank H. Hooper, Children's Play in Diverse Cultures, →ISBN, page 194:

     Symbols for monkey bars, swings, slides, and seesaws, which are common in the storyknifing we observed, of course, were not drawn before such articles were introduced into the culture with the building of schools and playgrounds in the villages. The use of the symbol or the word "yes" to signify the end of a storyknifing session was not used by the women in Margaret and Leota's generation.

   • 1997, Nancy H. Hornberger, Indigenous Literacies in the Americas, →ISBN:

     Once oral stories are learned, they can be retold through storyknifing, song, and dance.

   • 2012, Kathleen B. deMarrais, Inside Stories: Qualitative Research Reflections, →ISBN, page 94:

     One of their favorite storyknifing places was under an old, abandoned, Bureau of Indian Affairs school.

   • 2013, Carolyn Kremers, Upriver, →ISBN, page 81:

     The children of Bethel, then, come from diverse communities, brining their own storyknifing styles with them.