"Every journey into the past is complicated by delusions, false memories, false namings of real events" (Adrienne Rich). All a person knows is what one is told or subjected to. So when it comes to learning history, how does one know what is true and what is false? To distinguish between reality and fantasy one has to keep an open mind, to educate one's self, and try to imagine things from another perspective-to get the whole picture. However, many times pieces of the picture are left out and people are left with interpreting the missing pieces for themselves, which can cause controversy among people later down the road. By understanding this, one can begin to understand the differences between oral and written cultural perspectives and some of the issues faced by both cultures.
             First, oral cultures, such as Indigenous societies, believe in the idea that time is an ocean. For example, Native Americans learn their heritage and roots through storytelling. The interpretation of the old stories remains the same because of the oral tradition. It goes back through time so that immediacy is now. Time is seen as an ocean-always moving. Furthermore, time is not a far distance and that's why there is no need for the reinterpretation. By keeping the tradition of storytelling, each person in society becomes linked to one another in a personal way. Each person gives their testimony and passes down their knowledge of not only their heritage but also the events in history that has shaped them into the people, the community, and the nation they are today.
             On the other side of things exists the written culture excepted by Western civilization. People of this culture view time like a piece of string stretched out in a straight line. Events that occurred 500 years ago are viewed as "long ago." However, just because something is seen as long ago, does not mean the effects of these events are not present today-...