Witnessed finger-pointing by an Elder

[Mary Ann Corbiere]

Hello everyone.


By ironic coincidence, at a conference I attended this past weekend, an
Elder who presented some teachings to an audience of over 30 people,
pointed with his finger 3 or 4 times at various members of the audience,
albeit as he was making teasing remarks about the people he was pointing
at. The Elder is one who is highly regarded for his traditional
knowledge by people in the Lake Huron region and perhaps beyond (by
people in other regions of Ontario or across the country).


I didn't overhear any murmurs of how inappropriate some might have felt
this action was. (Nishnaabek usually don't hesitate to comment under
their breath to a friend if someone does and says something that strikes
them as inappropriate in some way.)


Just FYI


MAC

>>> Anne-Marie Baraby <baraby.anne-marie at UQAM.CA> 03/09/13 4:37 PM >>>
Hi,

I asked about what is going on in another native language, berber
(tachelhit dialect) spoken in south of Morrocco and I had the following
answer that I translate in English: 


"In berber culture (south of Morocco), pointing with the finger is
impolite and may be perceived as aggressive (above all, when one look at
the person in the eyes). What is preferred in that culture is a chin
movement toward the person. Sometimes, one also use the hand, but with
opened fingers (I mean that the hand has to be opened, not closed). This
is an interesting matter probably linked to oral cultures."


Anne-Marie Baraby 


Bonjour,
 
Dans la culture berbère (sud du Maroc), pointer avec le doigt est impoli
et pourrait être même agressif (surtout lorsqu'on regarde la personne
dans les yeux). Ce qui est privilégié dans cette culture, c'est le
mouvement du menton en direction de la personne ciblée. Parfois, on
utilise aussi la main, mais avec les doigts ouverts (je veux dire ici
que la main doit être ouverte, et non pas fermée). 
Voilà, c'est une thématique intéressante qui est surtout liée aux
cultures orales. 

Abdallah El Mountasser
 
Le 2013-03-06 à 08:54, Amy Dahlstrom a écrit :

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! :-)





 




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