Oral History

To me it is very interesting and hard to believe how many culture were able to keep such strong traditions from just word of mouth.  I mean no written history, just straight oral history, it so so interesting how people could keep such strong traditions alive by telling stories and passing down these legends and holiday traditions that many cultures still fallow today.  I sometimes wonder if many of the oral history and traditions that we hear about today were done the same way because it is very easy for something to change in oral history.  There is nothing set in stone for us to write down and keep track of, and that being said it is just so crazy how people from countless generations were able to keep traditions alive for so long. Along with oral history comes stories of past wars and survival, which maybe some people were not able to or had the chance to write down the experience at the time.  But some how the tradition of the story was able to be kept alive by the memories of people and the countless generations passing it down as they get older and their kids have kids.  I know for a fact that many people hear many stories of the past and then they start to remember that event, then from then they pass that on to someone else, which starts a sort of ripple effect.  This is mainly how oral history works because it is all done through speech because nothing is ever set down in stone due to the traditions of the story.  But it does make me wonder if maybe the story may have shifted a point in time.