Sacred Storytelling: a Father and Son Pow Wow

Sacred Storytelling: a Father and Son Pow Wow

by Richard Allison and Ronald Allison

My dad and I had a serious conversation last night, perhaps what some people used to call a Pow Wow. That word has a connection to Native American culture that does not go unnoticed to me. In fact, I had just been talking with some friends about the importance of naming rituals in native cultures and spiritual rituals. So it was interesting that my father said what he said last evening because he spoke directly to the idea of naming as part of initiation. Ironically, knowing that my dad would be visiting, one of the things that I wanted to discuss with him (but did not know how) was, "What does it mean to be a man." Being the middle child as well as gay, I have always felt a sense of not being enough in regards to being a man and have always wanted my father to give me guidance in this important area of self worth.

So it came as a very pleasant surprise when my dad initiated the conversation by talking about Native American naming rituals. Let me step back for a moment and share that my father and I have experienced uncannily similar health challenges for the past year. Some native cultures might even define these challenges as initiation rites of their own. Initiation into a deeper and richer sense of life and love and nature not unlike the vision quests that tribal elders demanded from young boys, sending them off into the forest for days without food or human contact to test their strength and perseverance. If the boy survived the forest and all the tests that he encountered in that time of hardship, then he would be called a man and a warrior. He would then be given a new name to reflect this great accomplishment. So how appropriate that my dad, visiting while he is still recovering from his own time having survived the dark forest of induction chemotherapy and at the same time I am recovering from my third brain surgery and now paralysis would share a story about Native American naming rituals.

My dad, always a great Storyteller for as long as I can remember, shared this gift of words with me yesterday, first verbally, and then in writing, after my request:

I've always been interested in Native American Indian history and lore. I learned that once Indian babies are born, in certain tribes the males are initially named by the father and females by the mother. Their initial names were often the very first thing the mother or father saw. For example if the father saw two running deer, the son would be called "Running Deer" or maybe the mother would see a beautiful yellow flower and name her daughter "Yellow Flower." After about a year the child would receive their formal name, and it was always associated with nature. A few days ago upon reflecting on my son Richard and the tremendous struggles he has encountered with brain cancer, I decided that I would, if I were a Native American Indian, I would initially have named him "Kicking Feet" because he was constantly kicking his feet rapidly as a baby. Later, I would have formally named him "Strong-Son-Shine." Strong because of his resilience and strength, Son because he is my son but moreover I also translate Son to also mean sun because of the extreme warmth provided by the sun such as Richard has provided to so many people. Then the word Shine for Richard''s brilliance and love that he has shared with so many thousands of people through his life. So my son Richard's indian name, to me, will forever be "Strong-Son-Shine!"

With great admiration, affection and love, Dad

As I followed my father to the front door as he departed for the hotel for the evening, both of us now using canes to assist us in walking, I thought about another important aspect of native cultures, that of the Sacred Storyteller...and that would be my Dad, Ronald Dean Allison.