TRADITION
Traditional Meanings are
METONYMIC
The meaning of a PART comes from its
relationship to the WHOLE
TRADITIONAL MEANING
• EXPERIENTIAL- The meaning of a
particular part references the whole
• PARTICULAR- Meanings are
constructed and derived with in the
experience of particular people in
particular times and places
• COMMUNAL- Meaning is grounded
in shared experience over time
State of Mind
EPISTEME
ABSTRACT
THINKING
DOXA
Knowing from
direct experience
Mental Activity
Object/Outcome
NOESIS
ARCHAI
Meta-physics
First Principles
DIANOIA
METHOD, LOGIC
REASON
MATHEMATIKA
LEARNED
CONCLUSIONS
PISTIS
ZOA
Knowing direct
experience
Particular Things
EIKASIA
EIKONES
Imaging,
Imagining
Symbols, arts
(imitations)
“TRADITION”
• A LATIN WORD
• GREEK SIMILARS:
– paradosis/ paradidomi : “to put, hand over,
allow, grant, offer, share” (alongside of)
– paratheke/ paratithemi: “to put, lay (upon,
up, in), entrust, commit (maintain, preserve)”
“TRADITION”
LATIN: trans-dare, tradere, traditio
trans: prefix “across”
dare: verb “to give”
“To give over or across” (time or
space)
“TRADITION AS --”
A VARIETY OF WAYS THE WORD IS USED
TRADITION AS—
1.LORE– Vestigial relics of a disappearing past as opposed
to the contemporary or modern; the enemy of
progress
“TRADITION AS--”
2. CONTENT (MATTER)
– Accumulated material inherited from the past, usually
accompanied by an attitude (+ or -);
– What has been passed on in fixed form
(birthday cake; Christmas tree; Thanksgiving turkey
3. PROCESS OF INHERITING/RECEIVING (ACT)
– The act (or acts) of inheriting, cultivating, transferring,
practicing, performing
(baking the cake, buying the tree, cooking the turkey)
“TRADITION”
4. THE MEANS OF PASSING ON (FORM)
– The techniques by which one passes on or
receives
(using Grandma’s recipe, putting on the decorations)
5. CANON
– Recognized, authorized, normative, official
content to be passed on or received
– Guaranteed by history, long practice
– Opposed to innovation, fashion, idiosyncrasy
“TRADITION AS BODY”
6. EMBODIMENT
• The Universe: 16 Billion Years
– If 1” = 1 million years: 1331 feet
• The Earth: 4.5 Billion Years
– If 1” = 1 million years: 375 feet
“TRADITION AS BODY”
The material in our bodies is
– 16 billion years old
– The elements developed almost instantly
– The have been evolving ever since
– The are billions of galaxies
– The Universe continues to expand
– Completely replaced every 7 years
“TRADITION AS--”
EXPERIENCE
Ability to enter into and live in the
experience of our ancestors
sensation-perception-interpretation
language-culture-art-history
INTERPRETIVE SQUARE
FOUR KINDS OF QUESTION
• WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE?
• ON WHAT LAND DO THEY LIVE?
• WHAT POWERS OPERATE THERE?
• WHAT CEREMONIES EMBODY
WHAT THE PEOPLE KNOW?
THE PEOPLE
1. Who are the People? What do they call
themselves?
2. What do others call them? What does the US
Government call them? Are they
‘recognized’?
3. What do archeologists and anthropologists say
about their origin(s)?
4. What do the People say about their origin(s)?
5. How do the people organize themselves
traditionally? What kind(s) of leaders do they
have? How does leadership work traditionally?
THE PEOPLE
6. Do they have IRA leadership and/or
government in addition to traditional
leadership?
7. How are The People related to other Native
groups?
8. What is the story of their particular
experience with the European invaders?
(What group(s)? When? Treaties?
THE LAND
1. WHERE DID THE PEOPLE ORIGINATE?
2. WHERE ARE THE PEOPLE TODAY? IS THIS THEIR
ORIGINAL LAND? IF NOT, HOW DID THEY GET
WHERE THEY ARE NOW? DO THE PEOPLE LIVE
ON A TREATY RESERVATION?
3. WAS THEIR LAND BASE AFFECTED BY
ALLOTMENT?
4. DESCRIBE THE TRADITIONAL WAY OF LIFE OF
THE PEOPLE. DO THEY STILL LIVE THEIR
TRADITIONAL LIFE WAYS? HOW HAVE THEY
ADAPTED?
THE LAND
4. DESCRIBE THE ANNUAL CLIMATE OF THE
PEOPLE’S LAND.
5. DESCRIBE THE FLORA AND FAUNA OF THE
LAND THAT ARE SIGNIFICANT FOR THE
PEOPLE’S WAY OF LIFE.
6. DESCRIBE THE MAIN STRATEGIES THE PEOPLE
HAVE DEVELOPED TO LIVE IN THEIR PLACE?
7. DESCRIBE THE CURRENT ECONOMIC ACTIVITY
AND STATUS OF THE PEOPLE?
THE LAND
8. HOW DOES THIS LAND ESTABLISH THE
FOUNDATION OF THE REGISTER FOR THE
PEOPLE’S SYSTEM OF TRADITIONAL
MEANING(S)?
THE POWERS
1. WHAT MAJOR HOLY POWERS DO THE PEOPLE
RECOGNIZE?
2. HOW DO THESE POWERS SHAPE THE
PEOPLE’S COSMOS?
3. HOW DO THESE POWERS SHAPE THE
PEOPLE’S LIFE WAYS AND SOCIAL ORDER?
4. WHAT POWERS ARE CHAOS-CAUSING
WHAT IS ‘HOLY’ POWER
Hal, halig (Anglo-Saxon)
English derivatives:
whole, holistic, wealth, weal, health,
hale, hail, heal, well, wel(-fare)
Other:
Heil, heilige (Ger.); salvus, salve, salud, santé
SOME KEY TERMS
• HOLY= “life-giving power,” order-making
• EVIL= “death-dealing power,” chaos-making
• SACRED= “set apart,” “cared for,” “treated
with knowledge and care,” something
‘considered’ holy
• PROFANE= “outside the temple,” i.e., outside
human control
THE CEREMONIES:
The eikones of the People
1. HOW DO THE PEOPLE IMAGINE AND EXPRESS IN
WORD AND ACT THE ORDER OF THE COSMOS?
2. WHAT ICONIC ACTS ARE MOST IMPORTANT TO
THE PEOPLE?
3. DESCRIBE HOW THESE ACTS ARE PERFORMED?
4. HOW DO THEY ACT AS FORMS OF TRADITION?
5. HOW DO THEY LINK THE PEOPLE, THE LAND
AND THE POWERS?