Assignment 1:3 Question 3- The World of Words
by EmilyHomuth
Linguistic relativity is described by J. Edward Chamberlin as the scientific term for the “different thoughts and feelings and even different forms of behavior” (18) created by different languages. This is the wonderful world of words, the world “that is both there and not there” (Chamberlin 132).
Words create reality by describing it, alter descriptions alter the interpretation of events creating the new reality. Settlers in North America used words to create a reality in which they felt entitled to the land that they claimed to have discovered. Chamberlin points out the absurdity of calling individuals moving to North America settlers while labeling the Indigenous people as Nomads (29-30). From the perspective of the colonizers not only were these labels correct but, in their world of words the title of Settler gave them a false sense that it was their right to take the land. They created a reality in which they believed that the Indigenous people had not claimed the land because they had not settled on it. In reality the Indigenous people had settled on the land but not the way that the colonizers defined it. Used in this way, words created a reality for the Settlers and the British Government which provided them with a feeling, not just of entitlement to the land, but a duty to use it.
The world of words can also be incredibly beautiful and beneficial. Stories are utilized to record Indigenous history i.e the world that is there. In Indigenous stories the world that is there, including where to hunt, where berries grow and when, etc., to carefully catalogue and pass on to future generations. Stories, including charms and riddles, are used to create the world that is not there. Chamberlin refers to riddles and charms as ways to understand otherwise incomprehensible elements of life, nature and the human condition. To manage the harsh questions that we are faced with, like how we all came to be on the earth, by imagining a reality where those questions are answered. Charms and riddles add otherworldly elements that provide an explanation that reality cannot. Charms in the form of songs are especially significant because they are words that are seen as having the power to alter the real world whereas most words can only interpret it, for example, a song can help cultivate water.
It also provides the Indigenous people with agency. Their oral traditions allow for their history as their ancestors witnessed it to be passed down from generation to generation. This history is recorded and interpreted with no colonial interference and without reliance on scientific techniques. This method of recording history provides more information then others because it includes elements from the world that isn’t, interpretive and spiritual elements. Rather then history that relies on physical circumstance, Indigenous history provides additional context and interpretation. Creation stories describe how the world came to be but they also describe why it came to be. The photo below is Jorden Stranger’s interpretation of the creation story of the moon. This story not only explains how the moon came to be but it also provides an explanation for why the moon and sun are rarely in the sky at the same time. In this way, words explain and provide meaning to natural occurrences that may otherwise be menacing, like the sun leaving the sky.
Being immersed in the same world of words connects generations across time and through hardship. The Indigenous people of modern time have been robbed of experiencing North America the way their elders did. However, through the world of words, the world that no longer is, is recreated and imposed on the world that is to provide solace.
Work Cited
Cave, Kate, McKay, Shianne. “Water Song: Indigenous Woman and Water.” The Solutions Journal, vol. 7, no. 6, 2016, https://www.thesolutionsjournal.com/article/water-song-indigenous-women-water/. Accessed 16 January 2020.
Chamberlin, J. Edward. If This is Your Land, Where are Your Stories? Finding Common Ground. Toronto, Alfred A. Knopf, 2003.
“Oral Tradition” Canadian Geographic Indigenous People Atlas of Canada, https://indigenouspeoplesatlasofcanada.ca/article/oral-tradition/. Accessed 16 January 2020.
“Storytelling” The First Nations Pedagogy Online, https://firstnationspedagogy.ca/storytelling.html. Accessed 15 January 2020.
Stranger, Jordan. Wisakedjak and the Moon., Winnipeg., http://www.our-story.ca/winners/arts/5092:wisakedjak-and-the-moon. Accessed 15 January 2020.
Hi Emily!
I really enjoyed your discussion of oral traditions as a means of maintaining Indigenous agency, as it allows for an interpretation of history outside of colonial interference. I think this is particularly interesting to consider within the scope of “linguistic relativity” as described by Chamberlain, and how this is reflected in the language conversions that occurred within residential schools. Would you say that linguistic relativity can be applied to explaining how the eradication of traditional Indigenous languages may have led to the losses of many of their cultural practices?
Hi Lilly, thanks for reading!
Yes, I think linguistic relativity explains why the loss of language leads to a loss of cultural practice. Linguistic relativity is a term used to describe Chamberlin’s phenomena of the world of words. He points out many times in his book that First Nations people spread their oral traditions and history not just orally but also with ceremony specific to the story. In his book Chamberlin describes a situation where a Chief translates a traditional story into English. Chamberlin asks if “he [is] being a traitor by translating” (22). Some people thought he was because the ceremony of the story involved telling it in their traditional language. Linguistic relativity describes the world of words created by traditional Indigenous language. This world of words is essential for the ceremonial traditions of story telling. Therefore, without it the culture is at risk.
Thanks again,
Emily
Work Cited
Chamberlin, J. Edward. If This is Your Land, Where are Your Stories? Finding Common Ground. Toronto, Alfred A. Knopf, 2003.
Hi Emily,
I really enjoy reading your blog. After reading your blog I am really interested about the culture and stories of indigenous. I am really interested that you point out “oral tradition”. In the past there are a time that people don’t know how to write so they pass down stories and history culture by oral tradition. I believe that there might be differences from what actually happen because it is not as accurate as when we write it down. What might happen if there are two people with different stories? How do they decide which one is correct if there are no scientific techniques to confirm?
Hi Pin,
Thanks for taking the time to comment!
I think if there are two people with two different stories about the same event its not a case of one being truer then the other. In those cases I think that both stories are equally true from the perspective that they are told from. Oral traditions are far more forgiving then written traditions in this sense because oral traditions are told by one individual and therefore obviously from their historical perspective. We are fooled by written history into thinking that it is an unbiased record of history but as Chamberlin points out, it is absurd that history calls the Indigenous people nomads despite their having lived in North America for thousands of years (30). There are two different stories of colonization that, at the time, were true according to the people that told them.
Thanks,
Emily
Work Cited
Chamberlin, J. Edward. If This is Your Land, Where are Your Stories? Finding Common Ground. Toronto, Alfred A. Knopf, 2003.