talking stick
Speaker's ceremonial object
A talking stick is an object passed among participants in a group discussion, granting whoever holds it the exclusive right to speak.
The practice derives from Indigenous North American council traditions.
The term extends to any object serving this turn-taking function: We use a talking stick in our family meetings so everyone gets heard.
Spoken exchange between parties
- listeningAttending to sound
- speakingOral expression of language
- turn-takingAlternating speaker roles
- uninterruptedContinuing without a stop
speaker · silence · patience · exchange · discourse · expression · voice · sharing
Ceremonial set of actions
- gatheringCollection of people meeting
- councilAdvisory deliberative group
- circleCurved closed shape
- assemblyConstructing from components
convocation · forum · congregation · observance · rite · dedication · commemoration · summit
Organization's workers collectively
- woodenMade from timber
- carvingShaping by cutting away
- totemSpiritual clan symbol
- featherBird's body covering
beadwork · handcraft · heirloom · symbol · ornamentation · inlay · engraving · leather
Original inhabitants of America
- First NationsCanada's non-Inuit indigenous peoples
- AboriginalAustralia's native peoples
- tribeSocial group sharing ancestry
- eldersSenior community members
clan · ancestors · heritage · customs · spirituality · oral tradition · wisdom · sovereignty
High regard, moral dignity
- reverenceProfound admiring respect
- dignityInnate personal worth
- courtesyRespectful, considerate behavior
- considerationCareful thought or compensation
acknowledgment · deference · attentiveness · appreciation · mutual respect · inclusion · empowerment · validation
dialogue
Spoken exchange between parties
- listeningAttending to sound
- speakingOral expression of language
- turn-takingAlternating speaker roles
uninterrupted · speaker · silence · patience · exchange · discourse · expression · voice · sharing · storytelling
ritual
Ceremonial set of actions
assembly · convocation · forum · congregation · observance · rite · dedication · commemoration · summit · symposium
staff
Organization's workers collectively
feather · beadwork · handcraft · heirloom · symbol · ornamentation · inlay · engraving · leather · ceremonial object
Native American
Original inhabitants of America
- First NationsCanada's non-Inuit indigenous peoples
- AboriginalAustralia's native peoples
- tribeSocial group sharing ancestry
elders · clan · ancestors · heritage · customs · spirituality · oral tradition · wisdom · sovereignty · sacred
honor
High regard, moral dignity
- reverenceProfound admiring respect
- dignityInnate personal worth
- courtesyRespectful, considerate behavior
consideration · acknowledgment · deference · attentiveness · appreciation · mutual respect · inclusion · empowerment · validation · presence
- Indigenous cultureancestors, ancestry, ancestral lands, ancestral lineage, animal totems
- circle timestory time, show and tell, weather chart, singing, nursery rhymes
- indigenous traditionselder council, powwows, totem poles, healing rituals, sweat lodges
- elder councilchief, patriarch, matriarch, tribal elder, village elder
- tribal symbolstotem, totem pole, clan crest, tribal tattoo, tribal mask
- Northwest Coasttotem pole, potlatch, totem poles, thunderbird, clan crest
talking stickgag
Mouth restraint or jest
muzzle · silencing · censorship · gavel · shouting down
talking stickfree-for-all
Unregulated group conflict
crosstalk · shouting match · parliamentary procedure · lecture · monologue
talking sticksilencer
Sound-dampening gun attachment
muzzle · gag · free-for-all · crosstalk · pandemonium
talking, stick, talk, talks, talked, talker, talkers, sticks, stuck