"The Inspiration of the Storyteller" was inspired by the famous Chickasaw storyteller Te Ata and the folklore and mythology of the Native American People. She is sitting among many of the animals that are the center and inspiration of many of the stories. The tortoise and the hare story is exactly the same as the one told in Greek mythology. The owl is the bearer of death and bad news, the crow is the prankster and the beaver is the ideology of hard work and prosperity. I placed the ermine in the sculpture, because it is the lead character in one of my favorite Blackfoot stories called "How the Ermine got its Color". Te Ata, like all storytellers, passed on the wisdom of the Peoples to the next generation preparing them for the future. She also shared these stories, around the world, to a vast array of individuals from children to Heads of State.