CISA Programs

The California Indian Storytelling Festivals

One of CISA’s primary goals is to present annual events such as the California Indian Storytelling Festival in the San Francisco Bay Area since 1995, in southern California since 2000, and in northern (Humboldt County) California since 2001.

The first Festival in 1995 was a half-day event with five storytellers held in a small outdoor area in Indian Canyon, near Hollister, California.  

Our festivals include special programs, such as the Emerging Voices where apprentice tellers have the opportunity to share in a larger arena and to attend festival in a mentoring relationship with more experienced tellers.

Other festival programs include Featured Tellers (performances by experienced storytellers), Honored Elders (honoring our greatest tradition bearers), and Guest Tellers (featuring tellers from indigenous communities outside of California ), Story Swap, (open Mic sharing), and Story As Song, (Native music shared in the context of story).

Our main festival event is the California Indian Storytelling Festival, now in its 11th year. In an effort to reach more deeply into smaller regional communities we started our Southern and Northern California Indian Storytelling Festivals.

These smaller festivals are “moveable festivals,” offered in different locals within the region, enabling different communities to learn how to create their own events