FARMINGTON — Abenaki storyteller and writer Joseph Bruchac, joined by his son Jesse, will host a workshop and a performance at the 2013 Western Maine Storytelling Festival on July 19-21.

The festival opens with an interactive workshop, The Circle of Stories. Aimed at youth leaders, parents, teachers, and all who present Native American material, the workshop will explore one of the oldest American Indian symbols, the circle.

“When we gather in a circle,” Bruchac points out, “we see each other’s faces and are all the same distance from the center.”

Participants will experience that circle through stories, activities and games that come from the Native cultures of the Northeast. The workshop will also present ways that each person can use their cultural experiences and heritage of stories, whether native or nonnative, to enrich our children’s understanding and appreciation of storytelling and the larger world around them.

Joseph and Jesse will present “Learning from Our Monsters,” a family show (not for very young children) of “scary stories” from Wabanaki and Haudenosaunee traditions. These are tales that, in Native traditions, intend to not only frighten but also teach important lessons and inspire good decision-making in children and adults.

The workshop will be presented from 2 to 4 p.m. July 19 in the Education Center Lobby at the University of Maine at Farmington. “Learning from Our Monsters” takes place at 7 p.m. in the Emery Community Arts Center. Tickets are required for both events, and are available on line at westernmainestorytelling.org, at Devaney Doak & Garrett Booksellers or at the door.

On July 20, Jesse Bruchac will be joined by Passamaquoddy/Maliseet language keeper Roger Paul in a children’s program,“Mawnukot: Celebrating Wabanaki Peoples,” telling stories, teaching songs and dances, and introducing Wabanaki language. Free and open to the public, the program will take place at the First Congregational Church on Main Street.

Raised by his Abenaki grandparents in the Adirondacks, Joseph Bruchac has been telling stories and creating poetry, short stories, novels, anthologies and music that reflect his Abenaki Indian heritage and Native American traditions for over 30 years.

“Joe is magical, welcoming, brilliant!” said Jo Radner, member of the Festival Board.

A traditional storyteller and musician whose specialty is the native flute, Jesse Bruchac is the founder of the Dawnland Singers and has performed American Indian music at festivals and in concerts throughout the United States, in Canada, and in several European nations. 

Roger Paul learned traditional stories from elders as he grew up on the Motahkomikuk reservation, and has continued to tell them to his family and to the children he teaches at the Indian Island School.

For more information and to see the full festival schedule, visit westernmainestorytelling.org, email [email protected], or call 207-860-6622.