The oral tradition of passing along history, information and stories of culture have been around since the beginning of time. In many cultures today, oral traditions are still the main means of passing down knowledge and history. Several problems arise from the oral tradition as a use of passing along of a people's heritage. Often as it is passed down from generation to generation some information is left out or forgotten. At this point problems arise between the written word and oral tradition. Many Native Americans still use it as a means to carry on the history of their society. The Native Americans are masters of telling stories. They are one of the few peoples without any trouble in keeping the oral tradition alive. They use the oral tradition as a means of enlightening those who have not witnessed the past. The Native Americans carry it close to their hearts. The oral tradition is where their heroes are born. The passing down of their culture through the oral tradition helps to keep their autonomy, yet many Native Americans have abandoned the practice of oral tradition to adapt to modern times and the writte

The Indians have always used the oral tradition as a way of immortalizing their heroes. Whether it is a mighty Plains Indian on the hunt over a hundred years ago or a young high school basketball player playing the game of their life. Every time one of the stories is told it is exaggerated a little, making the character or characters in the story greater each time. Of course there are always downfalls though as each of the legendary basketball players was built up in hopes that one-day one of them would make it to college. None of them made and as each generation passes, they pass on the tales of those great players to the next generation hoping that one of the young children on the reservation might make it one day. There was a young man about the age of Victor and those of his generation that has been immortalized in these stories. When Victor asks Adrian about Silas he replies," Do I remember? I was there when he grabbed the defensive rebound...and I don't mean it looked like he flew, or it was so beautiful it was almost like he flew. I mean he flew, period."(Alexie, 47) The Indians keep retelling stories like these to keep their heritage alive. Julius Windmaker is one of the players that have been immortalized. Yet he succumbs to material things like alcohol and hope is lost in him. Stories of Julius are passed down through the generations to keep the spirit alive that one might make it off the reservation one day. That is where struggle comes into play between the oral tradition and written word. The telling of stories broadens the imaginati

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Approximate Word count = 1057
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)