pointing, not with finger

[Amy Dahlstrom]

Many, many thanks to everyone for their comments on the list, and to 
those who have sent me private messages.  (Note to Rand -- at least 3 
people told me that they can read the posts but are blocked from 
replying to the list.  Can you let people know what to do in order to 
post to the list?)

It's remarkable how widespread this practice is:  from the Micmacs to 
the Blackfoot -- what an amazing range!  And it's great to hear about 
the non-Algonquian groups as well (Dakota, Navajo, Apache). How 
interesting that the Metis follow a different pattern!

Bernie, I knew you would have a good story to tell.  thanks!

Arden Ogg sent me a link to a discussion of this topic, which starts 
with a joke.  I'll copy the joke here:

http://www.manataka.org/page1889.html
"At a Cultural Sensitivity seminar in Los Angeles for counselors working 
in minority communities, the teacher offered the following joke.

Three good friends were out hunting with their favorite dogs, boasting 
about their hunting ability.  "Watch this" said the English man.  
"Rover, go seek!"  Immediately his dog took off at a full run, darting 
all through the brush, until he came to a bevy of quail.  The dog froze, 
pointing with his front leg and standing like a statue, marking the spot 
where the quail stood.

"That's very impressive" said his French hunting partner, "but watch 
this."  With a series of shrill whistles he directed his dog to search.  
The French man's dog sped off and soon found the location of an animal, 
hidden in the brush.  The dog barked furiously and spun in circles, 
marking the location of the hiding animal.

Both the English and the French man then turned to their Native American 
hunting partner.  "What can your dog do?"  they asked. The native man 
motioned to his dog with his chin, sweeping the surroundings with a 
motion of his head.  The native dog looked around, sat down, and pointed 
toward another patch of brush with his lips.

Predictably, the native people in the audience laughed out loud."

*******

I was especially interested to hear the comments about spirits and 
sorcery (e.g. Dick, Adrian, Anne L's link to Rob B's work).   I think 
there is also such a connection between finger-pointing and spirits 
among the Meskwaki.   A 1912 text by Alfred Kiyana which I published in 
/Anthropological Linguistics/ in 2003 contains an illustration depicting 
a spirit with wings pointing with his finger (at a fasting young man); 
later, when recounting his experience to his father the young man says,
     apina=meko netaawinoohokwa  (/apina /'even' =/meko /emphatic 
particle; verb stem /aawinoohw/-  3rd sg. subject, 1st sg object)
     'He even pointed at me.'
In the story, the spirit with wings is angry at the young man for having 
accepted the blessing of an underwater spirit.   The young man should 
have waited, since the spirit with wings would have blessed him in a 
better way.

Here's what I said about this aspect of the text in the article:

         " We learn less in this story about the winged spirit than we 
do about the underwater spirit.There is, however, an antagonism between 
underwater spirits and the thunder beings that would have been well 
known to the audience for this story.(See Jones 1907:202--207 and 
Michelson 1930:119--121 for stories of battles between the two; 
Michelson 1930:54--56 discusses their opposition, with photographs of 
woven bags depicting a thunderbird on one side and an underwater panther 
on the other.)Though the winged spirit in this text is not explicitly so 
identified, the fact that he is a spirit of the air and the enemy of the 
underwater spirit may suggest that he is one of the thunderers.(See 
Jones 1907:175 for a story in which a thunderer appears to a married 
couple in human form.)

That the winged spirit points at the young man is significant (17C; 
illustration 2), since pointing at people with the finger is avoided in 
Meskwaki culture.Kiyana's lengthy version of the origin myth (Kiyana 
1913) contains several references that shed light on the associations of 
pointing.For example, the culture hero, Wi?sahke?ha, has the ability to 
create objects, such as a lake, merely by pointing at a spot (p. 
723).Moreover, Wi?sahke?ha informs the human beings of the Warchief clan 
that if they point at someone they are quarreling with, that person will 
die (p. 791).Later in the same story, a spirit is pointed at by other 
spirits, as part of a scolding (p. 963).Pointing with the finger thus 
seems to be associated both with mystical power and with the expression 
of anger."

Perhaps if pointing with the finger is something that spirits can do 
(whether to create, or to punish), it is disrespectful (as Dick 
suggests) or even dangerous for humans to try to usurp that power.  (And 
of course even if the original motivation might be no longer well 
remembered, the practice of avoiding finger-pointing could continue on 
for some time.)

In any event, thanks again to all for the fascinating discussion. Please 
send more reports and stories, if you have them!

with best wishes,
Amy



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