Turtle Talk

From the Cheboygan Daily Tribune:

Opinion

 

There’s a certain method to the art of Indian humor

By SIMON OTTO

Many people read magazines and articles in the paper and the comment on them tells of the native American being stoic or not listening to the topic of conversation. They don’t know or realize that it is one of the cultural things among Indian people.

Some people say that Indians don’t say much, but underneath they are a happy people, and most people think that they are quiet. True, they are quiet, but not when they get together. They can jokingly talk and make fun amongst themselves. No outsider had better do that, because if you do, then you will be left on the outside or not included in their conversations.

Here in Northern Michigan there is a lunch served every Tuesday and Thursday at the Little Traverse Bay Band’s complex. Anyone of Indian descent is welcomed there. The lunches are free. And to show that Indians are stoic, that is the last to be expected. There are up to 60 people served at lunch, and before lunch, people begin to gather and the room is abuzz with talk and laughter.

They come from all over, and sometimes people from downstate will come up for news (this is called the Moccasin Telegraph), so those who come from their respective homes are welcomed. Most of them are recognized by old friends. Sometimes there will be buses bringing them to the lunches from the Saginaw Chippewa tribe in Mt. Pleasant and also from Peshawbestown, north of Suttons Bay.

Indian humor among themselves is accepted, so it is best not to say anything to one who is extra-sensitive. This you learn who they are and watch and pick your own words, as not to hurt any feelings. Yes, sometimes the topic of conversation is not appropriate, so the subject is quickly changes.

When I was yet working, I had a plaque on the wall in my office reading: “Be sure your brain is in gear before engaging your mouth.” I received many comments o the plaque, some saying “Does that mean me?” I told them to answer that themselves. I lived by that saying and it helped me out with my clientele.

I once read a piece of Indian humor and it goes like this: “One time an anthropologist visited an Indian village and talked to the chief, and later, after becoming friends, he asked the chief: Could I go dig up the grave of your mother so I can get some information about her?”

The chief thought about it and the next day he spoke with the anthropologist.

“Yes, you can,” the chief told him, “ but first tell me, so I can dig up your mother’s grave.”

Needless to say, that was the end of that conversation.

Another one, appropriate for this time of year is: “A long time ago when only Indians lived here on this Mother Earth, we found these strangers in strange clothes wandering about the beach, wondering where they were. They were lost. They came by a big boat that had something that looked like the wings of a bird. They were lost, so we helped them.”

Another common one is that they came by a big boat and they looked as if they didn’t have much to eat, so we invited them to eat with us. They liked it so much that they stayed and never went back. This was their first Thanksgiving or picnic.

So this is some Indian humor, but to some of the Europeans this could be offensive. It is not intentional, but to Indian people it is how they think.

With that I say — walk in peace.