Volume 24 Number3
July 1985

Richard Fiordo

Clyde Kluckhohn asks "how can peoples of different appearance, mutually unintelligible languages, and dissimilar ways of life get along peaceably together?" (see Note 1). This paper is but a humble step in the direction of answering Kluckhohn’s profound question; it reports the endeavors to teach speech communication "peaceably" to Native people in Alberta. The means it chooses its pattern on the principle of the Gus-Wen-Tah or the Two Row Wampum. Excerpted from presentations to the Special Committee by the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and from Wampum Belts by Tehanetorens, the two rows of the Wampum symbolize vessels, travelling down the same river together. One, a birch bark canoe, [stands] for the Indian people, their laws, their customs and their ways. The other, a ship, [stands] for the white people and their laws, their customs and their ways. Both travel "the river together, side by side, but in [their] own boat. Neither tries to steer the other’s vessel." Striking up the Two Row Wampum between Native and non-Native peoples suggests that both groups may go their own "ways, side by side, in friendship and peace" (see Note 2).

Applicable to Native people, Kluckhohn remarks that groups that have "largely gone their way without being absorbed in the great civilizations of the west and the East show us the variety of solutions which men have worked out for perennial human problems and the variety of meanings that peoples attach to the same and to different cultural forms" (see Note 3). Although the great civilizations of the West in particular have influenced Canadian life, Native people of Canada have been able to go their own way without being absorbed by the West or by Canada in spite of a legal and historical effort by the Canadian government to absorb Native people. Before dealing with our special approach to bicultural communication and education, an account of Canadian historical and legal policy is in order.

John Tobias tells us that "Protection, civilization, and assimilation have always been the goals of Canada’s Indian policy," based on the belief that "Indians were incapable of dealing with persons of European ancestry without being exploited." Section 9 1, subsection 24 of the British North America Act of 1867 gave the government [of Canada] exclusive jurisdiction over Indians and Indian land." By training, or "civilizing, the Indian in European values," the Canadian government aimed to make the Native person "capable of looking after his own interests." Through such "training", eventually "Indian identity and culture would be eradicated, and the Indian would be assimilable and no longer in need of special status" (see Note 4).

By 1850, the government grew disenchanted with the "efforts to settle Indians on isolated reserves in Upper Canada." This disenchantment in dealing with Indians "brought about a change in the ultimate goal of British Indian policy." Instead of simply trying to "teach the Indian to cope with persons of European ancestry," Native people were to "become European and to be fully assimilated into the colonial society (see Note 5). Despite "pressure from missionaries and the government to repudiate [Indians] for being contrary to Christian and European values," the "Plains Indians and the Indians of British Columbia attempted to preserve their traditional religious and cultural values." Subsequently, the government prohibited many traditional practices, such as, the Sun Dance and Potlatches (see Note 6). By 1900, many regarded the reserve system as a means of preventing rather than implementing assimilation (see Note 7). The 1951 Indian Act marked a return to the "philosophy of the original Indian act: civilization was to be encouraged but not forced on the Indian people." Yet, assimilation for all Native people was still a goal of the Canadian government (see Note 8).

As for education, according to a recent Special Task Force on Indian Self-Government, "external control of the education of Indian children has been destructive of Indian culture" (see Note 9). From a Native point of view, the principle of the Two Row Wampum was violated as thoroughly as possible:

It was believed that by removing Indian youth from their homes and placing them in captive environments, the heart and soul of Indian culture would be removed. . . . Specifically, residential school Indians were not permitted to speak their language, practise their religious beliefs and rituals, or have the opportunity to learn what it means to be a self-actualized Indian (see Note 10).

Furthermore, these training "institutions were highly regimented with programs and a school curriculum alien to its students." "People who were forced to attend such institutions are today "considered by their people as the lost generation" (see Note 12).

Although the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development has adopted a policy of "Indian control of education," Native bands have discovered that their "influence is still limited" since the "bureaucratic systems" call on the resources of "Indian communities but result in no real Indian control" (see Note 13). The Wampum principle is once again more an ideal than a reality. In fact, the principle of "Indian control of Indian education" is really given mere lip service in the Province of British Columbia" (see Note 14). In addition, Native people frequently participate in education negotiations, "only to be overruled by unilateral federal or provincial decisions, despite assurances that action is only to be taken with Indian approval" (see Note 15).

While Native people see the need for education as a means of recovering their cultural values and skills as well as a means of acquiring the "skills needed to survive and prosper in non-Indian society," they see federally operated programs of education as promoting assimilation (see Note 16). They argue that only "Indian people can design systems for Indians. Anything other than this is assimilation" (see Note 17). Native people hold that the goal of Indian education is to "educate Indian people to be Indian people" (see Note 18).

In line with the purpose of the Saskatchewan Indian College which is to "revive and perpetuate Indian culture, traditions, history, language, religion and all aspects of the Indian way of life" (see Note 19) our bicultural effort to create a bridge between the soft-spoken way of speech communication among native people and outspoken way of speech communication in teacher training among non-Native people is offered. Since Native people want bicultural skills for survival and prosperity (see Note 20) and while work has begun on Native Studies programs, implementation of these programs varies throughout Canada (see Note 21). Subsequently, my goal is to fulfill this bicultural mandate. The rest of this paper will report the approach used to do this and the results of the approach.

A comparison of speech evaluation sheets of 200 Native and 200 non-Native classroom speeches showed considerable differences in scores on several items in a category called Paralanguage. The 400 speeches were from Native and nonNative students enrolled in the basic speech communication course at the University of Calgary. Of the 200 non-Native student speakers, 188 were Caucasian, while 12 were non-Caucasian and non-Native. Of the 200 Native speakers, 76 were Cree, 40 were Blackfoot, 38 were Stoney, 22 were Chipewyan, 12 were Ojibway, 2 were Dogrib, and 10 were Metis. See Table 1.

Table 1
Total Speeches

Before discussing the assessment procedure and instrument for speech performance in the basic speech communication class, notice must be given to the Rubin report on oral communication assessment in higher education as well as a personal researcher disclaimer. Rubin reports that "non-standardized rating forms and instruments appear to be the most common assessment tools in speech communication classrooms." She adds that most assessment tools have "traditionally lacked the research necessary to assure that they measure what they purport to measure and that all users of the instrument use it in a uniform manner." Although a few standardized instruments are "available to communication professionals that are specifically aimed at the college level or at the assessment of oral communication skills," no one is certain about the status of oral communication assessment at the college level today (see Note 22).

The Rubin report calls attention to a fact of life we must deal with on Native Reserves. Inter-rater reliability is a problem on the Reserves in Alberta because no raters other than the author were able to take part in the rating of speeches. So, while Rubin tells us that at Kent State the Communication Competency Assessment Instrument is used "to assess skills of students in the basic course" (see Note 23), the use of such an instrument is not likely to be used in the University of Calgary Native Outreach Program that delivers the basic speech communication course. Funding, staffing, and situational factors related to isolated Reserve locations marshall against the potential and beneficial use of such an instrument. In short, although the instrument the author uses is based on common speech rating forms and sound communication principles, the categories which will be described soon are based on ultimately what we might call a "teacher-made" rather than "standardized" form. It doubtlessly has limits in spite of this author’s sincere and humane intentions.

As far as statistical data is concerned, this paper disclaims having achieved anything resembling a controlled experiment with bias checked (see Note 24). The data presented was attained under circumstances that would be, in our opinion, difficult to impossible to control. Reserves in Alberta and the classroom facilities on them range from one room buildings constructed in the 19th century to relatively modern structures equipped with videotape recorders and cameras. The author invites anyone with an interest in structuring an empirical study to test the statements made in this paper, especially with reference to the bicultural methodology explained later. The figures offered in this paper represent the greatest effort possible at this time, given the conditions under which the data had to be collected. Also, the author acknowledges the plausibility of researcher and rater bias, despite efforts to rate speakers in a valid and reliable manner. Subsequently, other researchers are invited to employ this approach and rate similar students in order to verify the validity and reliability of the measure used.

The category of Paralanguage covers all the vocal cues constituting "the oral aspects of sound except the words themselves." In short "all that which comes with language" (see Note 25). Included in this category are the following items: Volume, Dialect, Rate, Articulation, Pronunciation, Vocal Variety, Pauses, and Vocal Quality. The Paralanguage category has a rating scale ranging from 0 to 4. No minus scores are ever given. All items were of concern to the soft-spoken and outspoken ways of speaking. While there were differences in mean scores between Native and non-Native people on all items, the scores were not markedly different for rate and pauses.

Before reporting the differences in scores, a brief explanation of the items classified under Paralanguage will be given. Also, an explanation of the soft-spoken and outspoken ways follows.

Volume refers to the "loudness or softness of a person’s voice" (see Note 26). It ranges from the "boomer" to the "whisperer," high to low decibels: from approximately 90 to 10 decibels. Dialect, being a less discriminatory word than accent, alludes to "a variety of language which is distinguished from other varieties of the same language" (see Note 27). Yet, dialect includes "accented speech," distinguished by its phonological differences, but also includes word variations and grammatical differences" (see Note 28). In other words, a dialect is a "regional variation of a language used by a group of persons, called a linguistic community, and has unique features of pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar distinguishing it from other varieties used by other groups" (see Note 29). Given the speech evaluation form used, no category or item analyzed idiolect (see Note 30).

A pause in a "period of silence". When used effectively, pauses help us achieve "emphasis, clarity, intelligibility, and emotional quality" as well as a "natural opportunity to take a breath" (see Note 37). In short, pausing functions to improve dramatic emphasis. And, vocal quality refers to the "timbre, tone color, or texture of a voice" (see Note 38) in other words, vocal quality is the "characteristic of a tone which may distinguish it from another tone having approximately the same pitch, duration, and loudness." In short, vocal quality allows us to "rate a voice as pleasant or unpleasant" (see Note 39). To rate a voice as pleasant or unpleasant may involve the judgment that the voice has excessive tension, inefficient breathing habits, or improper pitch levels, and that the voice is breathy, strident, harsh, nasal, denasal, throaty, thin, or hoarse (see Note 40).

Related to the definitions of the items classified under Paralanguage are the notions of the soft-spoken way and the outspoken way. The speech evaluation forms employed to rate the speeches of Native and non-Native student speakers yielded the following results. The mean for Volume for Native speeches was 2.1 and for non-Natives 3.3. The mean for Dialect for Native speeches was 2.0 and for non-Natives 3.6. The mean for Rate for Native speeches was 2.6 and for non-Natives was 2.4. The mean for Articulation for Native speeches was 2.2 and for non-Native 2.8. The mean for pronunciation for Native speeches was 2.7 and for non-Natives 3.8. The mean for Vocal Variety for Native speeches was 2.2 and for non-Natives 3.4. The mean for Pauses for Native speeches was 2.5 and for non-Native 2.3. And, the mean for Vocal Quality for Native speeches was 3.1 and for non-Native 2.6. Table II below should help clarify these statistics.

What we are calling the soft-spoken way of Native people and the outspoken way of non-Native are visible in Table II. The soft-spoken, as portrayed in film, is symbolized through the paralanguage of such actors as Chief Dan George in Little Big Man and the young hunter in Never Cry Wolf. Table II suggests the soft-spoken way as seen in Native students taking our basic speech communication classes. The tendency is to speak in comparatively lower sounds, usually with dialect differences that may affect articulation and pronunciation. While the rate is usually a comfortable pace in comparison with that of non-Native speakers, Native speakers tend to limit their vocal variety more than non-Natives, while pausing more effectively and maintaining a soothing vocal quality throughout.

The soft-spoken way seems, in brief, to be a gentle and patient style of delivery when effective, but a shy and timid one when ineffective. In contrast, the outspoken way of non-Native people is louder, less pleasant, dialectically less distracting, usually rapid and articulate with a wide range of vocal variety and standard pronunciation of words, while more hesitant to pause for effect. The outspoken way seems, in brief, to be an aggressive and unreceptive style of delivery when ineffective, but a strong and confident one when effective.

Table II

To relate our findings to the bicultural principle of the Two Row Wampum is now in order. To teach speech communication to Native people in Alberta from the legal perspective of a Faculty of Education and a Department of Teacher Training and Supervision is to exercise one of four alternatives. The first is to force a merger between two cultures, the second is to have Native people conform to the dominant culture, the third is to conform to Native culture, and the fourth is to create a bridge by endorsing both cultures for relative purposes.

Since The Practicum Handbook for the Faculty of Education at the University of Calgary requires all student teachers to pass through their practicurn year with the approval of cooperating teachers and faculty advisors, any student desiring certification in Alberta must be successful in meeting the requirements for certification. One of the requirements covers effective communication skills. Although different terminology is used, the requirement of effective communication skills includes paralanguage (see Note 41).

The figures cited so far are from classes with Native students in which there was an attempt to merge the two, have Native people conform to the dominant culture in the assimilation manner mentioned earlier in relation to the Canadian government policy, or conform to Native culture. All of these alternatives were tried in relation to teaching speech communication. The less than satisfying and frustrating results are shown in Chart II.

In spite of humane efforts, confusion as to purpose and style seemed to preclude efforts to narrow the gap between the soft-spoken Native way of speech delivery and the outspoken non-Native way of speech delivery. Since Native and non-Native students alike have to conform to a speech delivery standard that unequivocally leans toward what we have named the outspoken way, the choice way one of steering carefully between Scylla and Charybdis.

The fourth alternative emerged as the most useful and effective approach. It is the approach we are calling the bicultural approach. As the Two Row Wampum suggests, it allows for both cultures to live side by side peaceably on each side of a river, yet with bridges and ferries connecting the two much like Hull, Quebec and Ottawa, Ontario or Victoria, B.C. and Seattle, Washington. The bicultural approach taken with recent groups of Native students of speech communication encourages Native students to live a quotation from St. Augustine which states that "When I am here, I do not fast on Saturday; when at Rome, I do fast on Saturday" (see Note 42). In short, "When in Rome, do as the Romans." They are also advised to remember to be Cree, Blackfoot, etc. when they leave Rome and return home.

The soft-spoken way is endorsed as a favorable mode of conversation between cultures as well as within Native culture. Once in Rome, however, (that is, going through a speech communication class which prepares students for student teaching or going through student teaching per se) the Native students are asked to shift from their soft-spoken way to the non-Native outspoken way (see Note 43). They are informed of the material basis for such a shift. For example, with respect to the higher volume - i.e., higher decibel range of non-Native classroom speakers - they are told about some of the classroom factors that require them to increase their volume. The size of the room and its acoustical qualities are considered. The size of the room and its acoustical qualities are considered. The size and proximity of the audience - 30 or 300 people in a large assembly room - are examined. And competing noises are taken into account (see Note 44). Once these material aspects are presented as necessary parts of student teaching and classroom speaking as well as parts of the outspoken way, the Native students increase their scores in the direction of the outspoken style during their classroom deliveries.

Out of 50 Native speeches evaluated, using this bicultural approach, scores improved in the items within the category of Paralanguage. In comparison with Table II, Table III shows the results following the bicultural approach. Most of the results were marked improvements, but some were not. Of the 50 Native speeches, 26 were Blackfoot, 14 were Cree, and 10 were Chipewyan. While admittedly a larger sample may alter the results, the scores listed in Table III are based on what is presently available.

As can be seen from Table III, improvements can be noted especially in volume, articulation, and vocal variety. Among the remaining items, improvements were made in all of them except for rate. However, as far as rate is concerned, unlike the non-Native speakers, the Native speakers tended to get scores less than 4 due to a slow rate. Non-Native speakers tended to get scores less than 4 due to a rapid rate.

From the careful writings of Nan Lin, we know that a "proposition is a statement about the relationship between two or more concepts in relational form." The following are typical propositions: "The greater the A, the greater the B"; "A is positively (or negatively) related to B"; "A positive change in A results in a positive change in B" (see Note 45). Lin also tells us that a "relationship" is any aspect or quality that can link or connect two or more activities or concepts" (see Note 46). Two main types of relationships or relations she lists are: covariational and causal. While propositions about covariational relations "concern only the cooccurrence or concommitance of two or more activities," they yield no information about which activity is cause and which is effect." When a proposition "specifically states that a change in one concept in a certain direction causes (leads to, results in, produces, induces) a change in another concept in a certain direction," a causal relation is involved (see Note 47).

With Lin leading us, it is crucial to say that the bicultural approach presented in this paper says that controlled test conditions did not prevail. If anything, this paper is an invitation for anyone interested in trying to establish a causal or covariational relation between, let us say, the bicultural approach and increased scores on the outspoken way scale. Perhaps, this paper suggests that there is covariation or even causation; but, it does not claim it. The author is in the position of the anthropologist who sees the Native Medicine Person do a magical dance and, within a short time, this anthropologist observes rain. Being a scientist, or at least scientific, the anthropologist does not want to assert that the dancing caused the rain because the anthropologist does not want to be guilty of the post hoc fallacy.

This author merely wants to assert that after the bicultural approach was used, scores increased. No assertion about cause is being made. An assertion about covariation seems possible. But, at this point, given the limited opportunities and condition for critical observation and testing, we can only say that we saw the dance and then we observed the rain. While we suspect they are in some way related and while we would argue for further research to determine the type of relation - if any, we cannot claim anything more than a confidence that once the concepts are neatly defined in a theoretical and operational manner, once the propositions are carefully tested and measured, a positive relationship between the bicultural approach and Native speech performance will be uncovered. Presently, admittedly, the nature of the relationship is still problematic.

Biculturalism itself needs to be mentioned. Dodd reports that as "cultural similarities increase or decrease, the area of overlap between culture A and culture B increases or decreases (see Note 48). While there may be overlap between Native and non-Native cultures in Alberta, a gap exists and probably will remain. In fact, a gap may even be deliberately maintained (see Note 49). 0verlap may occur in the form of some essential cultural borrowing (see Note 50), such as job training skills and economic methods (see Note 51).

One important item to recognize is the complexity of referents implicit in the notion of biculturalism. In its simplified version, as used in this paper, we have Native and non-Native cultures. In fact, Native becomes Native peoples. In the Alberta experience, this usually includes the groups mentioned and then some. Each of these Native groups may overlap in culture with another far more than with non-Native cultures. Since, in Alberta, the non-Native culture is for all practical purposes Caucasian, Native peoples overlap more with one another than with Caucasian peoples. In a sense, within Native culture, there exists so many different Native cultures - Cree, Blackfoot, Stoney, etc. Though these cultures are not necessarily in harmony with one another, they are generally closer to one another than to the Caucasian or non-Native culture (see Note 52).

As for the bicultural approach to teaching interpersonal speech communication and its apparent effectiveness, assuming optimistically that a causal or covariational relation exists, we speculate that there may be several reasons for this. Three deserve mention.(I) the message gets tailored to "fit cultural values and past experiences (see Note 53) (II) When cultural adjustment or change is sought, it "can be best introduced, not through centralized planning, but after a study of local needs" (see Note 54). Local and indigenous needs were planned into this approach in consultation with local Native groups. And, (111) the threat of assimilation by the mainstream was reduced and the threat of categorical imposition of the mainstream avoided (see Note 55). Identity as a Native person was encouraged along with the brave capacity to venture into another domain - that of the Caucasian or non-Native mainstream.

The bicultural approach was then presented, and the results of using this approach discussed. This method was used only with Native students, and a comparison of scores was offered to show the apparent advantages of the bicultural approach to teaching speech communication to Native students.

Appendix A
The Two Row Wampum
Appendix B
Sample Speech Rating Form

1. Clyde Kluckhohn, Mirror for Man: Anthropology and Modern Life (Toronto: Whithlessey House, 1971), p. 1.

2. 1ndian Self-Government in Canada Committee, Special 40, back cover. See Appendix A for the Two Row Wampum.

3. Kluckhohn, p. 15. For a Native view of the results of ignoring cultural differences, see White Cloud Journal of American Indian/Alaska Native Mental Health, I (Fall, 1978).

4. John L. Tobias, "Protection, Civilization, Assimilation: An Outline History of Canada’s Indian Policy," in As Long As the Sun Shines and Water Flows: A Reader in Canadian Native Studies, edited by Ian A. L. Getty and Antoine S. Lussier (Vancouver: University of British Columbia, 1983), p. 40.

5. Ibid., p. 42.

6. 1bid., p. 47.

7. 1bid., p. 48.

8. Ibid., p. 52.

9. Indian Self-Government, p. 27.

10. Saskatchewan Federation of Indian Nations Committee, Special 11, p. 82.

11. Ibid.

12. 1ndian Homemakers of British Columbia, "Family Unit Concept," Exhibit R, Special 17.

13. Indian Self-Government, p. 28.

14. Saavich Indian School Board, Special 5, p. 21.

15. Indian Self-Government, p. 29.

16. Ibid.

17. Carrier-Sekani Tribal Council, Special 20A, p. 11.

18. Saskatchewan Indian Education Committee, Special 11, pp. 68-69.

19. 1ndian Self-Government, pp. 30-31.

20. Ibid., p. 29.

21. Ibid.

22. Rebecca B. Rubin et al., "Oral Communication Assessment Procedures and Instrument Development in Higher Education (Annandale, Virginia: SCA, 1983), p. 1.

23. Ibid., p. 9.

24. For a summary of bias in research of an intercultural nature, see Mercilee M. Jenkins, Removing Bias: Guidelines for Student-Faculty Communication (Annandale, Virginia: SCA, 1983), pp. 8-9.

25. Judy C. Pearson and Paul E. Nelson, Understanding and Sharing: An Introduction to Speech Communication (Dubuque, Iowa: Wm. C. Brown Co., 1982), p. 85.

26. Ibid., p. 59.

27. Lyle V. Mayer, Fundamentals of Voice and Diction (Dubuque, Iowa: Wm. C. Brown Co., 1982), p. 5.

28. Carley H. Dodd, Dynamics of Intercultural Communication (Dubuque, Iowa: Wm. C. Brown Co., 1982), p. 197.

29. 1bid.

30. See Appendix B for the Sample Speech Rating Form.

31. Pearson, and Nelson, p. 85.

32. Mayer, p. 4.

33. Ibid., pp. 212-220.

34. Ibid., p. 209.

35. Ibid.

36. Ibid., pp. 175-190.

37. Ibid., p. 200.

38. Ibid., p. 3.

39. Ibid., p. 24.

40. Ibid., p. 241.

41. The Practicum Handbook (Calgary, Alberta: University of Calgary Press, 1983-1984).

42. Mayer, p. 5.

43. For Native and non-Native views of general cultural problems, see I.R. Brooks, Native Education in Canada and the United States: A Bibliography (Calgary, Alberta: Office of Educational Development, 1976), pp. 78-102.

44. Mayer, p. 61.

45. Nan Lin, Foundations of Social Research (Toronto: McGraw-Hill, 1976), p. 18.

46. Ibid., p.20.

47. Ibid.

48. Dodd, p. 11.

49. Reports from Native groups at a bicultural conference at the Nakoda Lodge at Morley, Alberta on 9 March 1984 indicate that cultural overlap is likely to be restricted primarily to economic concerns.

50. Dodd, p. 41.

51. Nakoda Lodge Conference, 9 March 1984.

52. 1n an oral presentation, Joe Northwest, a Cree poet and inmate at the Drumheller Correctional Institute commented: "A Cree will make friends with a Blackfoot for the length of a fight with some white guys in a pub. After the fight, they return to their ancient tribal rivalries." Lecture by Joe Northwest, Muskwauchees Cultural College, Hobbema, Alberta, April of 1979.

53. Dodd, p. 27.

54. Margaret Mead, Cultural Patterns and Technical Change (New York: New American Library, 1955), p. 258.

55. Dodd, p. 280. See also, pp. 136-138 for a discussion of trust in cross-cultural terms.

56. Richard Simaganis, BSW, Cree Native Representative and member of the Poundmaker Band of Saskatchewan, Nakoda Lodge Conference, 9 March 1984: "A brave was a person who would raid another village and return with horses or other things from that village. Now, a brave is a person who enters the mainstream society for an education and returns to the tribe to share the gains with other people in the tribe. This modern day brave must have the courage to leave the comfort of the Reserve and live between two cultures."