I did a little research on the Storyteller and learned that storyteller dolls were fashioned after the traditional clay figurines made by the Pueblo Indians of New Mexico. These figures represent the honored tradition of story telling among Native Americans.
The first contemporary storyteller doll (1964) was made by Helen Cordero of the Cochiti Pueblo in honor of her grandfather Santiago Quintana, a storyteller. The clay figurine showed a man with five children on his lap and shoulders. This doll was patterned after an existing "singing mother" figurine.
So it's even more interesting working on my cross stitch piece and honoring the storytellers of old. Since I like to read and tell stories to my little granddaughters, I fancy myself a storyteller also. But perhaps I will tell more stories to them now instead of reading from a book.
Either way, storytelling is a good way to bond, don't you agree?
