The first one relates to the fact that each person has a contribution to make and that the older you are the more valued you are. It seems to be true in some cultures of South America as well and in the Hassidic/kabbalist culture/religion as well.
It is so important to me, as we can see in our society, US as well as in France, for example, that when someone is getting "older" (for some 40 is old and surely 50) is considered a reject or someone who has nothing to bring, neither professionally, neither as a person.
I find the introduction to Native American culture, literature and narrative very interesting and I look forward to further reading.
"Yes, it is a culture in which each person has a contribution to make. The older you are the more valued you are but each person is valued. The oral tradition stays in the human brain and then it is a collective effort in the recollection. So when he is telling a story and she is telling a story and you are telling a story and one of us is listening and there is a slightly different version or a detail, then it is participatory when somebody politely says I remember it this way. It is a collective memory and depends upon the whole community. There is no single entity that controls information or dictates but this oral tradition is a constantly self-correcting process"
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