Native American Rhetoric: How and Why Is It Important?

Abstract

When discussing the Rhetorical Tradition, scholars generally agree with Bizzell and Herzberg's claim that it “begins with the Greeks, goes Roman, briefly sojourns in Italy, then shows up in England and Scotland, hops the ocean to American and settles in” (397). However, despite the final destination, this sequence of events excludes one of the most oppressed and voiceless peoples in American history: Native Americans. My paper addresses the lack of Native American representation in the rhetorical realm. Specifically, in my paper, I will not only be looking at several forms and definitions of rhetoric as well as the various examples of Native American rhetoric and rhetoricians, but I will also examine how their rhetoric differs from that of the Euro-American rhetorics. I argue that because Native Americans have historically been marginalized and excluded from academic discussion, their manner of using rhetoric, such as speaking and writing, has had to be altered from the traditional Greco-Roman as well as American rhetoric so as to reach their target audience more effectively. In conclusion, this paper, by closing examining several definitions of rhetoric, methods of use, and works completed by Native American rhetoricians, brings to light the rarely acknowledged issue of overall American Indian exclusion from academic circles, specifically the rhetoric tradition.