Storytelling (indigenous studies) is a fundamental and multifaceted cultural practice recognized within Indigenous studies as a primary method for the intergenerational transmission of Indigenous knowledge systems, histories, laws, values, languages, and cosmologies. It is understood not merely as narrative entertainment but as a complex performative act deeply integrated into social structure, ceremony, pedagogy, and governance. Within the academic field, it is studied for its role in shaping Indigenous identity, maintaining cultural continuity, articulating relationships to land and place, and serving as a form of intellectual property and cultural resistance. As a central component of indigenous knowledge systems, storytelling provides vital insights into Indigenous epistemologies and ontologies.