AUBURN - Like many cultures throughout history, oral tradition has been a custom among area Native Americans for thousands of years.

Especially in winter, Iroquois and Algonquin tribes would gather indoors to listen to elder tribesmen tell stories.

The tales were a way of learning about nature and social habits, and were passed down through the generations.

James Bruchac, author, survivalist and storyteller, has made it his life's mission to keep that oral tradition alive.

On Sunday afternoon, Bruchac was at Auburn's Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center to present an hour's worth of stories both ancient and modern.

The program, part of Schweinfurth's ongoing Words + Images = Stories Series, was held on the center's second floor, and was sponsored by the New York State Council on the Arts.

“I believe this is the third time we've had Mr. Bruchac here to present his program,” said Paul Haberlau, a Schweinfurth customer service representative who began working at the center in September, before the presentation began.

Bruchac, whose father is world-renowned author and storyteller Joseph Bruchac III, is of Abenaki descent, Haberlau said. The Abenaki tribe is Algonquin and live mostly in eastern New York, Vermont and New Hampshire.

“I was taught many stories, and a lot about the outdoors, when I was as young as 8 or 9,” Bruchac said prior to the program.

He has published a dozen books, including several children's tales based on traditional Native American stories and guides to animal tracks in different regions of the country.

To begin Sunday's program, Bruchac told a legend about how humans coexisted with moose, squirrels and mountain lions, and followed with other modern versions of Abenaki stories.

One interesting characteristic of Bruchac's performance is that, like Native American storytellers have long done, he would say the word “Ho” at any given time, and the audience would respond with “Hey!”

Bruchac practiced the call-and-answer with the guests several times before he began.

“For a long time, storytellers have done this to make sure everyone was awake,” Bruchac said to the crowd.

Among the handful of guests was Jenny Hunt, of Skaneateles, who was there with her husband, Dave, and her niece, Samantha, 4.

“I learned about this program in the Schweinfurth newsletter,” Hunt said. “We'd never been to one of these storytelling ones before, so we figured we'd give it a shot ... I think Samantha will really like it.”

On the Web:

To learn more about James Bruchac, visit www.jamesbruchac.com