Paper short abstract:

This paper explores storytelling as a medium for persuasion social transformation using the Yakama Nation story of She Who Watches and the more contemporary story of SpongeBob Squarepants: Sponge Out of Water as comparative analogies for the challenges faced at U.N. Climate Summit 2015.

Paper long abstract:

Sustainability, be it in economy or ecology is not a new model for community development in First Peoples communities of the North Americas. Sustainable practices in First Nations communities traditionally are integral to the pattern of community life. Social interactions are galvanised by language, ceremony, sharing of resources, dance, gatherings, regalia and storytelling practices. This 'galvanisation' of group activity and decision-making processes through shared narratives, is of course not exclusive to Indigenous Nations; Euro-Western mass media is also a form of shared narrative that potentially influences community development and decision-making processes. However, there are certain differences in worldview that are expressed within these respective storytelling traditions. 'Mastery' over nature is one of the primary differences between First Nations cultures and Euro-Western cultures. First Nations cultures traditionally seek to accept, understand and accommodate nature, rather than control it. Using the Yakama Nation story of She Who Watches (the narrative of Chieftess Tsagaglala, origin story for the She-Who-Watches petroglyphs) and the more contemporary story of SpongeBob Squarepants Movie: Sponge Out of Water (a popular farcical grotesque of American Consumer Economy, originally created to entertain children and young adults), as comparative analogies for the challenges faced by members of the United Nations Climate Summit 2015—namely, issues of consumption, competition for resources, cooperation and ethical decision-making—this paper explores storytelling as a medium for persuasion and as a potential agency of social transformation in traditional Indigenous societies and in 21st century Euro-Western popular culture.