Anth/Ling 114 – Language, Culture, and Communication in the U.S.
#2c Argument Mapping: “Arizona Tewa Kiva Speech as a Manifestation of Linguistic Ideology” by Paul V. Kroskrity.
The goal of this paper is to present an argument mapping of Paul V. Kroskrity’s article, “Arizona Tewa Kiva Speech as a Manifestation of Linguistic Ideology”. In order to map the argument, I will be doing the following things. First, I will define any words or concepts needed to understand the ethnographic facts about Kroskrity’s main ethnographic statement. Then I will present the main ethnographic idea that Kroskrity presents and I will mention ethnographic facts that connect to the main claim, which will provide evidence to support its claim. In my closing, I will restate the claims that Kroskrity makes and how they relate to each other. Overall, I will be arguing that there are four ethnographic facts for which are linked to a general ethnographic explanation claimed by the author.
To understand Kroskrity’s argument, I need to define these terms used in his analysis: Tewa the Arizona Tewa, the Hopi, Zuni, and kiva speech. Tewa is a Tanoan language spoken by Pueblo people, mostly in the Rio Grande valley in New Mexico north of Santa Fe and in Arizona. The Arizona Tewa is an out-migrating group that has held on to its language into the present. The Hopi is the group to whom the ancestors of the Arizona Tewa migrated almost three hundred years ago because of the harsh western Pueblo environment. Zuni is the language of the Zuni, the group of Native Americans inhabiting the largest of the Native American pueblos, in western New Mexico. Lastly, kiva speech is a distinct way of speaking Tewa that is performed in religious chambers when sacred ceremonial altars are erected, as defined by Kroskrity.
In the article, Paul V. Kroskrity discusses the cultural prominence of kiva speech to all Pueblo societies and the linguistic ideology embedded in the language. Kroskrity presents four ethnographic claims that are the foundation for the general idea that kiva speech expresses four closely linked cultural preferences. The ethnographic facts provided to support this claim are regulation by convention, indigenous purism, strict compartmentalization, and linguistic indexing of identity.
In the first ethnographic fact, Kroskrity focuses on regulation by convention. During religious gatherings, ritual members use fixed prayer and song texts. Song and prayer must be performed as it has always been within the community; innovation is not tolerated or yearned. In the rare occurrence of innovation in kiva speech, the only way it could be culturally sanctioned is that it must be “cloaked in traditional garb” as described by Kroskrity. One example of such is a tewa woman announcing a yard sale and inviting everyone nearby to stop by and look at the clothes she has for sale. She used the dramatic rising and falling intonations that are reserved for crier chiefs that make public announcements for events such as re-plastering the kiva, upcoming ceremonies, births, and grievances. The announcement was not traditional, but it was accepted by the general village for that it followed the style of most other typical announcements. The style of her chant incited all but the ultraconservative to see past the fact that the person chanting was a woman.
In the second ethnographic fact, Kroskrity discusses indigenous purism. During ritual performances, using any foreign language or native slang is extremely unacceptable. Frank Hamilton Cushing describes a time when he used a Spanish word during a Zuni kiva. For that, he got hit across the arm by a whipper kachina. After such negative reinforcement, he was instructed to say the Zuni equivalent of “Thank you.” Since Pueblo societies are traditionally theocratic and ceremonial leaders must gain appropriate knowledge through rigorous verbal instruction, the functional part and cultural associations of ceremonial speech are comparable to standard languages.
In the third ethnographic fact, Kroskrity focuses on strict compartmentalization. Kiva speech would lose its integrity if it used expressions from other languages. If it were spoken outside of religious contexts it would be inappropriate and violate societal norms. Mixing Tewa with English or Hopi is frowned upon in the Tewa community. However, it is said that older speakers approximate this ideal more than the younger and that men do so more than women.
In the last ethnographic fact, Kroskrity discusses linguistic indexing of identity. The behavior of one’s speech reveals important information about who the speaker is. As a narrator is telling a story in Tewa, he uses ba to end each of his phrase to express his identity as storyteller. Switching from Tewa to Hopi in a conversation functions to show the speakers connection and identity with the languages. One example Kroskrity presents is three senior Tewa men that are discussing a new plan for a high school to be built on the reservation. Speaker F says, “Schools were not wanted” in Hopi while speaker G says “They didn’t want a school on their land” and speaker H says “It’s better our children go to school right here rather than far way” in Tewa. Speakers G and H speak in Tewa to illustrate their Tewa identity, highlighting the history of the Tewa as a group opposed to Hopi obstruction of construction plans. H’s argument is what has historically been the argument of the Arizona Tewa for a reservation high school.
All of the ethnographic facts presented support the main claim of the article through examples and explanation for each fact. The first fact discusses regulation by convention, the second fact presents indigenous purism, the third fact focuses on strict compartmentalization, and the last fact explores linguistic indexing of identity.
I have concluded my argument mapping of “Arizona Tewa Speech as a Manifestation of Linguistic Ideology” by Paul V. Kroskrity. All of the ethnographic facts presented are linked to the general ethnographic idea that kiva speech expresses four closely linked cultural preferences that are distinct to Pueblo language.