When Robert LaBatte speaks he has a soft voice, but it is one that easily commands the attention of others as he shares the tales he has collected from Native American tribes in 45 states. He recently recounted three stories for an audience at R.O. Hardin School, which included children and their parents, as part of the First 5 San Benito’s family playgroup program.
LaBatte introduced himself to the children as Wo Ableza, his name in the Dakota language. Wo means everywhere and Ableza means to see or have vision. LaBatte grew up in the Minnesota and South Dakota areas. His father’s family spoke the Dakota language and his mother’s family spoke a dialect, Lakota.
LaBatte shared three stories with the children, including two fables and a creation story. While the kids started out sitting quietly on a rug in a portable classroom as LaBatte started his story about how the ducks got pink eyes, he soon had the children up dancing in a circle and singing along.
“Songs are really important for kids, whether it’s a drum or rattle or conch shell or whistle,” LaBatte said. “It changes the absorption of the information.”
In his first story, LaBatte told a tale of how a coyote tricked some little ducks into thinking he had a bag of magic songs. The story is a Native American tale that explains how white ducks got their pink eyes, but it also teaches children that they should keep their eyes and ears open to avoid danger.
LaBatte travels around the nation, sharing the stories he has collected from many tribes with school groups of different ages and other community groups. He got into collecting stories when he was a student at the University of California, Berkeley. He entered Native American studies at a time when the degree was new on campus in the late 1960s.
“I got interested in the stories my grandma told, but also in the larger American Indian story – not just the history, but the legend and myths,” he said. “In the summertime I had free time so I would drive to Arizona, Oklahoma or New York.”
As he was collecting the stories, he said he was struck with the similarities he found of stories in the same environment, such as those of people living in the mountains, near rivers or in deserts. He said he began to follow Native American elders when they held conferences and they said they appreciated someone collecting the stories. LaBatte said he did not write any of the stories down at the time he was collecting them, but he has a strong memory. He is just now starting to write down the stories into a collection more than 40 decades after he began listening to them and he is working on a project to have himself videotaped telling the stories.
At the end of his storytelling at R.O. Hardin, he encouraged the children to find a grandparent, aunt or uncle to tell them their family stories.
While the storytelling was a fun activity for the children, the activity was also meant to be a learning experience for parents. At each playgroup session, the children play while the parents work with a parent educator who touches on some key components that are a focus of First 5 San Benito.
Nancy Ducos is the parent educator who is working with the families on topics such as child development, nutrition, healthy relationships, guidance or positive discipline and literacy.
“We talk about having fun and laughing and, from that, connect the power of play,” Ducos said. “Playing is how they learn. Parents can make the play very intentional.”
At past playgroups, the coordinators of the groups have touched on fitness and nutrition by leading the children through yoga exercises. They also tried a spinach smoothie.
Lisa Faulkner, executive director of First 5 San Benito County, just received word that the agency will receive a Packard Foundation grant of $100,000 to continue offering the playgroups at nine sites in the county for two more years.
First 5 has partnered with several agencies to offer the playgroups, including the Youth Alliance Teen Parent Program La Familia, Head Start, the Hollister School District, the Aromas-San Juan Unified School District, along with others.
Ducos said the March playgroup is her second time working with the parents and that she is starting to build a rapport with them.
“All the sessions are different because the families are different,” she said.
At one of the teen parent sessions, Ducos said a parent asked her to read a book so they can go home and use that technique to read to their children themselves.
The recent parent component used storytelling as a lead-in to discuss child development.
“It’s important to tell your child you love them,” Ducos said. “We put a lot of emphasis on social and emotional development.”
