You know it is intersting... I remember the first time I heard about the
talking stick. Our organization was larger then and we used to have
regular events as a way of connecting with each other ( we lived all over
the place) and to see where we were going as an orgaization. I guess
there were about 16 to 20 of us present and was about ten years ago. The
woman who we had hired to facilitate introduced the talking stick. It was
done with a great deal of reverence for its history and roots. Her
demeanor was very spiritual and deep. You know what? I thought it was
extremely corny because the discussion we were having did not really
require that kind of depth. Many others were also gaging at the whole
thing...
Maybe the issue is not that it will upset a Native American when used,
maybe the issue is that it is not appropriately used. I don't think it
was used by NA's for every discussion they had! When I have seen it used
the impact seems to be that it controls conversation and it becomes
difficult to be spontaneous. I fully understand the need because human
beans tend to ignore the rest of the world to get their point out and tend
to be terrible listeners. So we use things like talking sticks in an
attempt to control people's natural tendencies to be self obsessed.
Perhaps frontal labotomies are a next step...(-:
I agree the the issue of political correctness has gotten out of hand and
that any use of any symbol, if done respectfully, or at least
appropriately is all that is needed. After all -- who was it that said
that imitation is the highest form of flattery?
Sherri
sherri@maloufinc.com Tel:603-672-0355
LMA, Inc Fax:603-673-7120
--Sherri Malouf <sherri@maloufinc.com>
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>