Uncle Simon Otto

During my naming ceremony, I was instructed to choose four people that would represent one of the various roles they will serve in my life. The protector stood my brother. Wisdom bearer stood my aunt. A witness stood my best friend. Finally, the teacher. This space stood my Uncle Simon. My four founding pillars have been set and interestingly fit their position well. These people agree to take on various roles in one’s life. Choosing one of four, is an important task to complete and I was pleased with the results. Each person fell into their role naturally.

Today, I will be introducing to you my Uncle Simon Otto. My Uncle Simon was the author of five books. Not only did he write books, but he also wrote for the Petoskey News Review, Cheboygan News, Record Eagle, and another small paper in Mt. Pleasant. During the Covid lockdown, I had the opportunity to research his newspaper articles. I learned more about him during that time than I knew of him when he was alive. My goal by the end of the tear, I plan to compile the articles into a book for the family and community.

He was a man who treasured his culture. He worked with many tribes to establish valuable programs for the youth all the way to the elderly. His work focused on alcoholics and their recovery, also those who were exiting prison. Halfway homes were established wherever he worked. He was well-known in my community and his ground-breaking work will assist his community long after he is gone. Even after his passing five years later, today, he is able to teach once again. I invite you to the Story Teller; Simon Otto. The man who spoke of Legends and Lore of the Anishinaabe.

At this point in this writing, I want to introduce you to Simon the Storyteller. He loved going to schools to share our culture. He would talk to the students about his regalia, his staff, and the bangles he hung from it. He just loved to spin a tale of medicine pouch and meaning behind the turtle to our family. Pictures with students intently listening to him make me smile. He held everyone’s attention in the room while he told a story.

Legends and lore of the Native Americans were a part of his writing and storytelling. His books show his interest in preserving them for our youth. While working in the archives, I came across a tape of his in the collection. He recorded a series of stories, “How Things Came to Be. Turtle gets his shell, The Red Headed Woodpecker, The Possum, Tale of the Rainbow.” I thought I would share them with all of you. However, there was a slight problem. The stories are on a legendary and ancient cassette tape.

I am so thankful to say, I have mad skills transferring from one media to another. I resurrected my cassette player just for our story time. Just in case, I found a number two pencil for emergency. My cassette player is very old and cranky. With everything in place, two clicks, I transferred my uncle’s stories from cassette to media to preserve them. I always like to learn new skills and thought I would make YouTube videos for you to listen to. I hope you will take the time to listen. They take you to a place where the youth in you listens too.

In this posting, I will only choose two stories to discuss in this project. So all of the videos are completed, I will attach them to the end of the article. (Shrugging Shoulders) I want to make sure they are available to the curious of Native Legend and Lore. It is simple, for the children whom he loved so much.

Story One: How the Turtle Got His Shell.

Uncle Simon loved this story the most. Actually, it would be one of the first stories he would start with. He was a performer after all. My students would ask him about various objects on his regalia and he would spin a tale. Whenever he touched his turtle pouch on his staff, he would upload his, "Let me tell you about," line to the children. Oh, the story had changed from time to time but the lesson was always the same. I could depend on him telling the students in my classroom this story.

Uncle Simon's stories had lessons through out them. The moons on the turtle's back matched the cycles of the moons. His descriptions were easy for the children to understand such as North, South, East and West matched the legs on the turtle. Other stories he told on his two days visits gave the students a lot of curiosity about my culture. Uncle was a gentle and kind teacher.

Story two: Tale of the Rainbow. By Simon Otto

The second story I knew I would hear during his visit was the Tale of the Rainbow. I requested this story for I was able to blend culture, oral history with science with one Uncle visit. The students really enjoyed the Unit that my other teachers and I designed around him. I loved creating rainbows with them during science through the study of prisims and rain on a hot day. I use to help when they created rainbow art with a special touch of glitter. Stories and studies followed for the pure sake of learning.

Tale of the Rainbow. by Simon Otto

As Promised, I have listed the other videos of his stories below. Thanks to my Aunt Aundrea, Simon's widow, I have other tapes of his to listen to. For today, we will stick with one tape and let my uncle tell you stories of "How something happened in this world. Many of you will be hearing these stories for the first time. I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed revisiting them. My uncle would smile and thank you and say, "Walk in Peace."

Other Videos of Simon Otto

Perhaps one of these videos will be used in a classroom one day. That would be fun to see or hear about. One can dream, and Simon entertained until he could no longer do so. The last time he came to my school was in 2008. He was slowing down and forgetting a few lines but recovered well. The two years after I retired, he walked on. Thanks to technology, I preserved them the best I knew how.

Thank you for your read and enjoy "Story Time."

Redheaded Woodpecker:

How the Skunk Came to Be. By Simon Otto.

The Possum Story

The Eagle Who Flew Too High. By Simon Otto.