pointing, not with finger

[Heather Souter]

Taanshi, hello,

There was a comment about "Metis" people pointing....  It should be
noted that there are likely significant differences between Metis
communities living in different areas of the "homeland" and between
urban and rural dwellers.  Also, as you all know, "Metis" is a
contested term in some circles.  Therefore, I do not know how helpful
it is to lump all Metis people together when talking about
pointing....

Eekoshi.
Heather Souter

On Wed, Mar 6, 2013 at 7:54 AM, Amy Dahlstrom <a-dahlstrom at uchicago.edu> wrote:
> Hello Algonquianists,
>
> I'm a discussant at an upcoming conference on gesture, and one thing I
> thought I would mention to the (extremely diverse) audience is the practice
> among at least some of the Algonquian peoples of pointing with the lips or
> with the chin, rather than pointing with the finger.
>
> I would like to ask you all how widespread this practice is.  And for native
> speakers (native pointers? :-) ), do you have any intuitions about why
> pointing with the finger is avoided?  Would it seem rude to point with the
> finger?  Or inappropriate in some other way?
>
> thanks in advance for any thoughts you can share!
>
> Amy
>
> P.S.  if you hit "reply" remember that you are replying to the whole list!
> :-)