Negotiating with Narrative: Establishing Cultural Identity at the Yukon International Storytelling Festival

Contemporary circumpolar indigenous peoples are experimenting with venues where issues of cultural, economic, and political importance can be translated to broad audiences. This paper examines intercultural transactions occurring at one public festival in northern Canada: the Yukon International Storytelling Festival. Challenging the idea that these performances can be understood as "texts" or "representations" standing outside the daily lives of participants, the author analyzes contemporary public storytelling as a tangible form of social action by performers well attuned to the complexity of their audiences.