The oral tradition includes oral narratives (or stories) that are used to teach skills, transmit cultural values and mores, convey news, record family and community histories, and explain our natural world. Along with narratives, the oral tradition also includes oratory (formal speech) and song. In recent history many oral narratives have been recorded in audio or visual recordings, which have then been transcribed into writing. This unit provides opportunities for students to examine traditional and contemporary applications of oral tradition in First Peoples cultures and to gain an understanding of why the oral tradition is important to humanity.