Communicating the Intangible: An Anishnaabeg Story

Abstract

The Euroamerican coauthor of this study initially became involved in the enterprise of crosscultural interpretation in the area of classical sinology. Trained in literary Chinese by the inductive method (Creel 193852), the problems associated with internalizing an alien mindset due to linguistic differences never arose. The inductive method taught the classical Chinese language by avoiding the teaching of grammar and rhetoric, substituting instead the assimilation of the language through learning to think in the language. In other words, the method was similar to the way traditional Chinese learned literary Chinese: the memorization of texts on ethics and morality to develop vocabulary in the context of acculturation. The effect on the coauthor was a shift in the basic perceptions of reality from one of the possibilities of Indo-European language cultures to that of traditional Chinese culture. The process was enhanced by the parallels of lifestyles in that both Euroamerican, at least in the 1960s, and traditional Chinese culture were socio-politically stratified, with intellectuals assumed to be minimally upper middle-class regardless of actual economic circumstances, and highly literate. Continuing education in the tradition by becoming close friends with some of the last generation of Chinese to be KEN PITAWANAKWAT IS AN ANISHNAABE HEALER IN TRAINING. JORDAN