PORT ANGELES — Elaine Grinnell will be the featured teller at the free Story Swap at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
The Story Swap, hosted by The Story People Of Clallam County, will be in the Carver Room of the Port Angeles Library, 2210 S. Peabody St.
Grinnell will tell traditional stories of the S’Klallam people, as well as personal stories.
She is an elder in the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe and is fluent in the S’Klallam language. She was recipient of the Washington State Heritage Award in 2007 and was selected to participate in the Smithsonian Museum exhibit for Native American Arts in Washington, D.C.
Grinnell also is a founding member of The Story People. In addition to storytelling, she is a master basket-weaver, drum maker and grandmother of nine, eight of whom are attending college.
Grinnell is a member of the Northwest Native Storytellers Association and has exchanged stories in other cultures in Africa, Japan, Australia, Bangkok and many states.
She was nominated to be a representative to the “Carriers of Culture” in Washington, D.C., for a week to meet people from all Native tribes.
Grinnell said, “It is my desire for each person to become a ‘storyteller’ and record your life for those coming behind you.
“Maybe you think you don’t have anything to say, but you are so important to those in your family and your story should be told. You do not have to tell in public, but at home, driving or written in a book.
Life is good!”
After a short refreshment break will be an open mic session for anyone to step up and share a short tale.
The nonprofit Story People Of Clallam County is dedicated to bringing all forms of live storytelling to the North Olympic Peninsula.
The Story People of Clallam County hosts story swaps on the third Tuesday of the month. The premier event is the annual Forest Storytelling Festival in October at the Peninsula College Little Theater in Port Angeles. The nonprofit also hosts a Liars’ Contest in June, a Celtic Concert every March and co-host story slams at Olympic Theatre Arts in Sequim and at Studio Bob in Port Angeles.
For more information, see www.ClallamStory People.org or contact board President Erran Sharpe at 360-460-6594.
