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Professor Kroskrity
Anthro C155 Final Paper
20 March 2018
Significance of Native American Verbal Art
Verbal art describes the oral tradition of a culture that includes stories and other literary

forms. Use of verbal art does not entirely replace writing but is a large portion of Native

American language and culture. The purpose of verbal art is not simply for entertainment, and

stories are easily stereotyped by non-natives as being meant for children. On the contrary, the

stories are for everyone and are meant for entertaining, teaching, curing, naming and more.

Verbal art is an essential part of many Native American cultures. Native American verbal art is

often misunderstood and deemed as primitive because of the constant comparison to languages

with extensive writing systems such as English. It is important to study Native American verbal

art in order to be able to understand it in the contexts of each tribe as well as to see that they are

not at all primitive. Each tribe has a unique form of verbal art that they use for different purposes

in their lives, and each must be looked at differently in order to be understood by outsiders.

Dennis Tedlock studied the native poetry of the Zuni Indians and translated the poems in

Finding the Center: Narrative Poetry of the Zuni.​ However, he did more than just translate the

words he heard, he also attempted to capture the prosody of performance so that readers could

appreciate the oral tradition of the tribe. Oral performance is of the utmost importance because it

creates an environment where the listener understands everything happening in the story; they

see every detail being dramatized, every high and low in the tone of the storyteller’s voice.

Without the oral performance, it would be unclear exactly which parts of the story were meant to

be emphasized and which ones were not, and as a result, the meaning of the poem may not be

fully understood. Tedlock attempts to capture as much of the prosody as possible by using
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capitalizations, line breaks, and changes in font size and form, but he also seeks to show that it

would be impossible to transmit every action associated with the poem onto paper without losing

a few significant points, and so the way the poems are read are just as essential as the content of

the poems themselves. Therefore, it is important to study verbal art in order to appreciate and

understand the significance of verbal art as oral tradition to the Zuni Indians.

Paul Kroskrity highlights the necessity of studying verbal art in his study of the Arizona

Tewa in “Growing With Stories.” Kroskrity shows the importance of storytelling in everyday

Tewa life and their beliefs in how these stories affect their daily lives. The local ideologies of

narrative efficacy include the ideas that both the crops and the children grow with the stories.

They believe that moral and agricultural development has a strong connection to the storytelling

culture, and therefore as this is an unordinary belief, it should be studied to be best understood.

Kroskrity quotes a consultant speaking about the socializing impact of stories on the children,

saying, “Our food makes them strong but our stories make them complete/good” (Kroskrity

12:161). This strong belief in the impact of stories is relevant in their daily lives as both the

futures of their children and crops are of the utmost importance. Their connection of verbal art to

their core identity is further resonated in their strong belief of indigenous purism and the minimal

borrowing from other languages they have been in contact with. Verbal art is central to their

identity and therefore must be studied, as the results will demonstrate its importance in the daily

life of the Tewa community.

Eleanor Nevins presents the relevance of studying verbal art in her description of the

Maidu text collections and the multiple changes made over the years. The text collections have

been edited, translated, and published four times in history since their release. Each time, they
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were altered for the projected audience, whether it be the language and content that would

change or the presentation of the collection. In the fourth and last entextualization, the authors

attempted to revive much of the original version in order to restore the important context that

was certainly lost during the other revisions. This attempt to restore the lost portions of the text

shows the significance of the content. In addition, they made the book easily and affordably

accessible again, as the previous version had been deemed rare and was therefore overpriced.

This way, they could be used by the Maidu heritage community as opposed to being too

expensive for community-wide access. Both the content and the accessibility of the text

collections are important to the Maidu community as the content represents their culture and the

accessibility allows for further growth of those who take interest and read them. It was important

to them to revive the original content because it was authentic and not edited in any way simply

to please readers. It accurately described them through storyteller Tom Young, whose portion of

speech that was only discernible to the community was “out of focus in the presentational format

of Dixon’s collection and edited out of Shipley’s presentation” (Nevins 17:64). It is clear to see

how important this is to the community as they are able to access a piece of their culture that had

been partially restricted before, and they can see that their stories are accurately told. Without

studying the verbal art of the Maidu, it would be unclear to anthropologists how the

entextualizations made a difference in the content and context, especially to those who do not

speak the native language. However, it is clear to the Maidu that their stories have been altered to

satisfy the non-native audience, and therefore a significant portion of the stories have been lost.

These may be portions that are only discernible to Maidu community members, resulting in
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neglect by the noncommunity members who edited the text collections. By studying the verbal

art, they will be able to overcome this ignorance and correctly portray the Maidu community.

Native American verbal art can be used to meet the contemporary needs and interests of

Native American communities in a multitude of ways. Andrew Wiget describes one of the many

ways verbal art satisfies these needs in his analysis of a Hopi Coyote story. The Hopi use many

ways to enhance the storytelling experience in order to capture the interest of people. They use

performance as a mode of spoken verbal communication, and heighten interest using several

linguistic features such as kinesic, paralinguistic and linguistic features. These features make

performance “an artistic creation that both expresses and defines a genre…[it] is only available

in performance” (Wiget 87:317). Kinesic features are movements that include metanarrative and

iconic gestures. Metanarrative gestures comment on the narrative and iconic gestures enhance

one’s appreciation of the story by dramatizing it. The use of these features captures the attention

of the community and fulfills the need for entertainment. The paralinguistic features include

stress, pitch, volume, and pace, all of which can change how the story is perceived. It can further

capture the attention of the audience by pushing them towards the dramatized parts of the story.

In addition, linguistic features such as structures and repeated words are used in order to show

the audience what is important in the story. If words or phrases are repeated, it is clear there is a

significance to them and this therefore further immerses the audience into the story. These

features combine to meet the contemporary needs and interests of the community as the stories

entertain and captivate them.

Anthony Webster describes another way that verbal art is used to satisfy contemporary

needs and interests of the community. Navajo poetry is a comparatively new form of verbal art
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and yet it is traditionalized through the Navajo language and storytelling practices. One of its

many uses is to compare the Navajo language to the English language through comedy. Using

comedy fulfills a contemporary need for entertainment by showing that their language is superior

to the English language, which is an unpopular opinion among non-natives. In addition to

comedic comparison, they also use comedic mixing in their language as another form of

mocking the English language. They use these two methods to comedically criticize English for

their own entertainment and therefore use verbal art as a form of the satisfying contemporary

needs and interests of the community.

Native Americans use verbal art for many purposes, one of the most prominent being for

the sake of connecting themselves with their past and their traditions. Gary Gossen describes the

Chamula, whose absolute emphasis on the sun deity results in the central metaphor of heat.

According to Gossen, heat is regarded as divine and therefore the ritual language is full of

metaphors for heat, and as language becomes ordinary, less metaphors for heat are used (Gossen

74:392). This ritual language is used as a way to connect the community to their past as well as

their traditions. Their basic religious beliefs revolve around the sun, and so their metaphors have

remained constant since their creation as the ritual language allows for limited flexibility. Less

flexibility in ritual language allows them to nearly exactly mimic the ritual language of the past

as a means to connect to their community. However, one of the main limitations of this study is

that Gossen only spoke to people that are part of ritual leadership, and therefore it is unknown if

the knowledge he acquired from them applies to everyone or if it is considered elite knowledge.

This requires anthropologists to question whether they have represented everyone in the

community or just the upper religious leaders.

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In order to avoid any skew in conclusions resulting from the misrepresentation in the

Chamula study, one can revisit the Arizona Tewa community, whose stories are a means to

maintain language with minimal mixing and as a way to socialize children within the home.

They are also used to to foster identity within a community as they promote linguistic purism.

Speaking Tewa is a determining attribute of Tewa identity, so these stories are used as a way to

maintain language and therefore maintain one’s identity.

Another use of Native American verbal art is in the naming of individuals in Hopi

culture. “Hopis are given names in a sequence of ritual initiations through life” (Whiteley 92:

211). Naming is a form of art for the Hopi as they are given names in multiple rituals throughout

life. The names are multiply indexical and can be derived from the person’s clan, the individual,

or it can even be a poetic creation. However they decide to name someone, the process of

choosing a name and the rituals associated with the naming are uses of verbal art.

Without understanding verbal art and its uses, it is easy to negatively stereotype Native

American language and culture as primitive, especially when comparing native languages to the

English language. Studying Native American verbal art is clearly important to understand as

people learn the contexts and uses in which verbal art is employed. The studies have shown the

many uses of verbal art such as its use for comedy and its use for connection to traditions. By

understanding these studies, non-natives can understand the importance of verbal art to these

communities and overcome the stereotyping to see how truly complex Native American verbal

art can be.

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Native American Language Revitalization

Native American languages have always had trouble growing in the present United States

as a result of negative stereotypes and lack of bilingual education in schools. This caused a

significant decline in many languages and even the death of some. Many Native American

communities have attempted to preserve and revitalize their languages through changes in

curriculum and pedagogy.

Christopher Loether describes the revitalization attempts of the Shoshoni as they have

manipulated language ideologies in order to spread the ideas of decolonization and creating a

base of indigenous ideologies. Loether highlights the problem ideologies that arise such as the

idea of genetic fallacy, which is the false belief that people will have an easier time learning their

native language. Another problem ideology is that language change is pathological and breaks

tradition. This ideology condemns the language to staying stagnant as any progression is seen as

negative. The Shoshoni have created a language project at Idaho State University as an attempt

to preserve and revitalize their language. The goals of the project are to develop a culturally

appropriate pedagogy in order to raise visibility of their language in the reservation while also

creating literacy materials that will increase proficiency of knowledge as students move on in

education. Additional goals include forming a group to regulate language and to create language

related jobs. This language project serves well towards the ultimate goals of preservation and

revitalization as Native American communities rise from years of oppression.

Barbara Meek describes the Yukon of Canada, who have developed a native language

project with the help of linguists, government officials, and the community. The rising ideologies

that their languages are linked to place and that they are their language led to the increase in

motivation to create such a project. The project resulted in many programs that support
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development of teaching materials, research, and more. This shift lead to Aboriginal Head Start

Programs which attempted to put aboriginal languages at the level of English in preschools.

These developments have helped and will continue to help the Yukon preserve and revitalize

their language in the future.

Eleanor Nevins writes about the White Mountain Apache, who criticize the way the

heritage language program was being conducted. Ironically, there was an Apache education

program in place in schools, but they were highly criticized for their inaccuracies in teaching the

Apache language. Though many disagreed on the solution to these inaccuracies, whether it be

teaching Apache at the level of English or removing it as to not further risk the loss of the

pedagogy, it seemed that most Apache agreed upon the issues. The most important agreed upon

matter was that not only was their language being lost, but Western teaching styles were taking

over the Apache ways of teaching and diminishing native pedagogies. Another issue was that

emphasis in education was being put on grammatical rules, lexicon, and correct pronunciation

instead of learning the true Apache way by listening and performing valued family and

community routines. As a solution, the author suggests that education should recognize multiple

language ideologies and incorporate Apache authority figures such as elders, traditional leaders,

and parents into the planning of Apache education. The author states that it is important to listen

to the criticisms of the education system by the Apache as “the imposition of programs...may be

interpreted as yet another form of oppression” (Nevins 04:284). By listening to and following the

criticisms of the Apache, both the language and the native pedagogies will be maintained.

Amber Neely and Gus Palmer Jr. describe the Kiowa, a community that uses several

writing systems as opposed to a single universal one. The Kiowa have eight different venues
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where they teach language and six different writing systems, resulting in confusion in speech

throughout the speakers. Standardizing the orthography of the Kiowa may be both beneficial and

detrimental as the common orthography could accelerate revitalization, but also result in even

more confusion within the community and incorrect use of phonemes. Standardizing a writing

system can also result in political issues as the question arises as to whose writing system is the

“correct” one. None of the groups are willing to change their writing system as each is associated

with their own religious tradition. In a way, this is allowing for the minimal language that is left

to be preserved because it is required for religious traditions. There is hope for the future for

standardization as schools such as the University of Oklahoma are developing a standard

orthography to teach to make up for the lack of intergenerational transmission in the Kiowa.

Paul Kroskrity describes the Western Mono Community, whose language suffered loss

during colonial times when English began to dominate and Mono children were punished for

using their language. The economic incentives behind English were stacking up as the language

was required for most jobs and children growing up were beaten for using their native language.

However, in the mid to late 20th century, schools began to revolutionize and acknowledge the

fact that one’s language is directly connected to their cultural identity. Schools began to consider

the idea that they should take into account the language and identity of native students and

decided that they should educate not only the native students, but all students about the native

language. This is beneficial because non-native students will not perceive the native language

and native students as negatively as they used to when schools discouraged the use of native

languages. Having adult Monos coming into the classroom also boosts self-esteem of students
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and results in better performance as their identity is fostered instead of dismantled. These efforts

made by schools help to preserve and revitalize Native American languages.

These Native American communities have all attempted to preserve and revitalize their

languages in different ways. The languages have had trouble being maintained and growing in

the United States, but these attempts seek to reverse the damage done to the communities by

altering the curriculum and pedagogy. As Native American communities pursue language

revitalization, it is the important for community members of all ages to follow the program so

that revitalization will reach peak success.