On silence

[Richard Zane Smith]

Kweh Rudy,

And we all know there is more to it than just silence.
Silence itself has flavors and moods and one has to learn to feel
and to pick up on the cultural nuances.

Some kinds of silence is to make someone feel UNwelcome (even a visiting
relative)
Some silence is to make a person(even a stranger) feel like "you're just one
of us"

I grew up into manhood on the Navajo Rez,  my twenties
and i learned pretty quickly to pick up on "mood."
When visitors would come while we were all sitting around
you could feel the silence mood change depending on who the person was.

My best friend ,a Navajo brother, who has since passed on, seemed to break
all the "Navajo silence rules" and everybody's faces would light up when
he came in teasing speaking either Deneh or english, expressive, loud, and
smiling
so big, tapping kids, doing all the things I would tell a newcomer NOT to
do!

But it was the MOOD he brought...he was NOT being polite or rude,
he was just GENUINE and it was refreshing and he seemed ALWAYS welcome
I would just watch elders faces light up by his own antics.
I guess we all can spot  "correct politeness"....and it really stinks.

I  learned a lot from my brother and i'll never forget the lessons he taught
me
by his example in the years we shared our lives.
It's helped me to enter groups of strangers whose eyes are all cooly on me.
I think of my bro,  smile, and get busy...and you know?...its never failed.

ske:noh
Richard

On Fri, Dec 10, 2010 at 11:57 AM, Rudy Troike <rtroike at email.arizona.edu>wrote:

> Phil makes a good point -- silence is definitely a cultural thing.
> See the discussion of this and many other culturally-relevant topics
> in Muriel Saville-Troike - The Ethnography of Communication: An
> Introduction, and Deborah Tannen & M. S-T (eds)- Perspectives on Silence.
>
> Silence is particularly valued in Navajo and Apache cultures. Responding
> to a question right away is considered rude, as it suggests one has not
> taken time to think about it. People meeting after an absence do not
> speak for a suitable time. Nancy Modiano told about a conference for
> teachers in bilingual programs in Albuquerque some years ago, in which
> attendance consisted of 65% Navajo, 15% Puebloan, and 20% Anglo. The
> Anglo teachers talked 75% of the time, the Puebloan 15%, the Navajo 10%.
>
> Rudy
>
> Rudy Troike
> Dept. of English
> University of Arizona
> Tucson, AZ
>
> On Thu Dec 09 18:40:54 EST 2010, Phillip E Cash Cash
> <cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU> wrote:
>
> > Hi all,
> >
> > I don't know if anybody has mentioned this but I will just briefly add
> > that in terms of behavior, adults have this (mostly unexamined) drive
> > to be understood when speaking to children.  Much like when people
> > have this (largely unexamined) need to blurt out speech when silence
> > enters into the conversation.  Is it a cultural thing?  Hmm, not sure,
> > maybe.
> >
> > Perhaps it might force the issue when teaching a language.  One could
> > have the greatest curriculum in the world but if the teacher has this
> > unexamined need to be understood it could limit the options of
> > learners.  Maybe this is the source for some teachers blurting out
> > English during your lessons.
> >
> > Just curious,
> > Phil
> >
>



-- 
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Bread for myself is a material question. Bread for my neighbor is a
spiritual one."

- Nicholas Berdyaev


"its easier to build strong children than repair broken men" Frederick
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