pointing, not with finger

[Jeff Muehlbauer]

My Plains Cree friends often point with their lips. Seen it many times.
They strongly avoid pointing with the hands, although you can make an
open handed gesture towards someone if you need to indicate them. Most
discourse-based indication of another person is done with a head tip,
which is also used to indicate common-ground topics. I've heard a number
of explanations about why pointing is dispreferred, including the old
saying about "four fingers pointing back at yourself," which I first
heard living in the American South. 


It reminds me of the Cree prohibitions against gossip and bad speech in
general, which appeal to the concept of reciprocity. (e.g.
"k-âyimômâyahk kîc-âyisiyinînaw, ahpô ka-pâhpihâyahk
ê-kitimâkinâkosit, kiyânaw anima k-âyimômisoyahk…" 'Should we
gossip about our fellow humans, or should we laugh at someone who looks
miserable, it is ourselves that we are gossiping about' from
kâ-pimwêwêhahk's okakêskîhkêmowina, published by Wolfart and
Ahenakew.)


Métis people, by contrast, do point. Aggressive contexts are the only
time I've seen it (e.g. an argument), but when asked, it seems that
pointing is acceptable but restricted. One of many places where Métis
and Cree culture are different.