Will Hill, Muscogee storyteller: Carrying the voices that came before him

(TVLSE, Okla.) Storytelling is an art form that doesn’t come easily for everyone, but Will Hill is a natural. 

Hill, a citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, was raised as a traditional storyteller of the Nogonugojeeh (storytelling society). Nogonugojeeh serve as knowledge keepers, preserving tribal history, family lineage and language. Their vital role originated when tribal societies passed knowledge orally, prior to the written tribal alphabet that helps support additional forms of recordkeeping for tribal members today. Oral storytelling was and continues to be a vital way of ensuring cultural continuity. 

Before he ever stood in front of a crowd, Hill sat at his grandparents’ feet, listening as Rufus and Gussie Buckley shared the traditional stories in the Muscogee language that he would someday pass on to future generations.

Residents of the small community of Okmulgee, both Rufus and Gussie were traditional people and only spoke Muscogee. As Nogonugojeeh, they also carried the responsibility of storytelling. 

”If people were starting to forget something, it was their job to collect it and pass it along,” Hill said.

Hill’s family took great effort to keep these traditions alive. His grandparents attended Indian boarding schools in Chilocco and Haskell, both of which were established in the 1880s as part of the federal government’s efforts to assimilate Natives into white culture during the Allotment Era. Policies at Indian boarding schools were designed to strip away Native children’s language and culture. Because of their experiences, Hill’s grandparents made sure he and his brothers grew up connected to traditional ways of life.

Those early lessons stayed with him. After studying at the College of Santa Fe, Hill began to share his stories publicly. He was first invited to share at small programs, and those opportunities grew into bigger venues reaching audiences across the country.  Hill performed at the 2004 grand opening of the National Museum of the American Indian, which is part of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

On March 16, Hill was a featured presenter at the 2026 American Indian Festival of Words, hosted by Tulsa City-County Library. The county-wide event focused on celebrating Native heritage, culture, arts and achievements. Hill performed during a session titled “Duno-Logah: Exciting Folktales From Native America” at Bixby Library. 

Hill entered the room, all smiles, greeting attendees and wearing a pink ribbon shirt, Indigenous jewelry and a black cowboy hat. Once he began speaking, every eye stayed on him.

He energetically moved through each traditional story, changing his voice for different characters and acting out scenes in ways that kept both children and adults engaged. Each story delivered a lesson about listening, awareness and the meaning of life. 

Hill’s performance also included musical elements such as a hand drum, Native American flute and turtle-shell rattle. He described their sounds as echoes of the past, connecting him to those who came before him.  

“I feel like the ancestors are with me when I use these instruments,” Hill said. 

When his performances end, Hill said he hopes to leave his audience with more curiosity about their own histories and the stories that have shaped them.

“I hope they turn around and look at their own environment and take in their histories and languages,” Hill said. “That’s how you remember where you came from.” 

Hill also stressed that storytelling is not only vital for tribal communities.

”Storytelling is for everybody,” he said. “Anyone can go back and find their family stories and history.” 

Through events like the American Indian Festival of Words, Hill continues to bring traditional storytelling into public spaces, carrying forward his grandparents’ work and ensuring their stories live on.

An Account of Creation

Shared by Will Hill, Nogonugojeeh

They say in the ancient times, long before man was here, they say that the Creator of all things decided to put people here. So he reached out his two mighty hands, and he brought forth out of the clay and mud a volcano. Out of this fire, he brought forth life, and out of that life, he brought forth two groups of people. 

There were Mekkos, the house of kings. They were the poets; they were politicians, the storytellers, the keepers of ancient ways. 

The other group were called the Red Sticks. They were the warriors, warlords of the Muscogee nation, sworn by life and death to defend the nation with all that they had. They would say, “If by life and or by death I can help you, I will. Even if it means giving my last breath, then I will do it.” 

These two groups, created out of fire, have co-existed since the beginning of time.