through speaking, listening, and memorization. Originally, culture and customs were transferred from one individual to the next and one generation to the next in the form of stories, myths, rituals and ceremonies. Religion held a primary place of importance in oral tradition, ôOral tradition is the spoken relation and preservation, from one generation to the next, of a peopleÆs cultural history and ancestry. It was traditionally used to transmit religious beliefs because it conveys cultural traditionö (Oral 2001, 1).
In Ancient Greece and Rome, orators played an important role in disseminating such tradition to others. Oral tradition encompasses ôfirst person narrative accounts of oneÆs memories of an event or time of lifeö (Dillon 2002, 1). An important aspect of all three eras of communication is the transmission or dissemination of knowledge. Native American groups heavily relied on oral tradition to transmit knowledge from one generation to the next pertaining to a variety of issues. One Cherokee tradition involves the character of a ôTricksterö, often a figure from nature such as a rabbit. Within the Cherokee oral tradition, the story of the Rabbit races with Turtle is one in which the Trickster Rabbit is defeated not by the plodding nature of the Turtle but by means of guile. In this story the Rabbit challenges Turtle to a race in which the winner will be declared the more intelligent of the two. Rabbit is convinced his speed will ensure victory over the plodding, deliberate Turtle. Turtle, however, realizes his speed cannot match the RabbitÆs but his intellect and ability to out-think Rabbit will win the race. The implicit message of the story is that there are times when it is important to use the mind rather than the body to achiever a desired outcome. The Trickster stories were an important part of Cherokee tradition, because it illustrates the tribal belief that there are forces of mischief in the wo...