Be it a true story or a tall tale, humans have been spinning yarns since time began. While public storytelling has taken a backseat to movies and TV shows, Dan Dullea says there’s still something unique about the experience.

Dullea, an instructor in communications and media at Clarkson University in Postdam, New York, recently shared some of his stories with the kids of the Mattapoisett Library’s Outdoor Theatre program.

The kids sat with rapt attention on the library lawn as Dullea performed his theatrical stories, including a retelling of the Abanaki Indian myth about a hunter named Gluskabi.

After a disappointing day hunting, Gluskabi goes to Grandmother Woodchuck for advice. She makes him a magical bag, which he then uses to gather all the animals in the forest.

Grandmother Woodchuck quickly puts the kibosh on his animal hoarding, and urges him to think about what will happen to future generations without the animals.

“You only can take just what you need,” Dullea told the kids.

Taking care of the earth is a theme that runs through most of Dullea’s stories.

Dullea started with telling stories around the campfire and later made it into a part-time job while working on his master’s degree.

“I was not able to have a regular job, but I was able to do storytelling,” he said. “All my stories were based around environmental concerns and environmental issues. That’s what I was studying in college.”

These days, Dullea said he’s back to telling his stories around campfires and for community service.

What keeps him interested in the craft?

“[Storytelling] creates a temporary community of people sitting here together, feeling the same story. It’s different than watching TV,” said Dullea. “What I try to do is to interact with as many people as possible.”

He said, something happens as a group gets comfortable with a storyteller.

“There’s almost a ritual to this kind of thing that can have a call and response, that can have an understanding that anybody can be a part of the story,” he said.