Week 4- American Indian Language

Week 3- American Indian Language

For this weeks readings I wanted to take a closer look at the American Indian Language in reaction to the highly metaphorical aspect of them. First it’s pertinent to state that American Indian tribes had various forms of language and communication. I found the complexity and frequent use of metaphors to correspond words and things intriguing to try to make a comparison to usage today. The main idea to understand is how the words embody concepts and relationships between physical and spiritual forces. For example “When I dance, I am the corn,” expressing sense of identity with corn.

Metaphor in English today is considered a figure of speech yet the intellectual power is much more. In native languages metaphors express the intimate relationship with human and physical worlds. For example in the Aztec Empire, the word white derived from salt, red originated from the word for blood, and green from the general word for plants. Also, parts of the body were associated with other objects such as bark for skin, and a door with the mouth. These associations make sense within accepted intellectual constructs in a society. The story of Selu in a literary sense tells the story of a mother who was killed by her two boys and corn grows where her blood sank into the ground. As a metaphor it explains the connection between human and earth fertility, and cycles in life.