talking sticks
Turn-taking speech tools
A talking stick is an object passed among participants in a group discussion, granting the holder exclusive right to speak while others listen.
The practice derives from Indigenous North American traditions and is now used in classrooms, therapy sessions, and meetings to ensure orderly turn-taking: Whoever holds the talking stick has the floor.
- councilsDeliberative governing bodies
- meetingsOrganized group assemblies
- community gatheringLocals uniting socially
- speakingOral expression of language
- turn-takingAlternating speaker roles
one voice · artifact · communication · oral history · consensus-building · storytelling · indigenous · dialogue · tribal · equality · ancestral wisdom · facilitation · wood carving · staff · conflict resolution · active listening · holding space · negotiation
- Indigenous Craftstotem poles, quillwork, dreamcatchers, moccasins, birch bark
- indigenous traditionselder council, powwows, totem poles, healing rituals, sweat lodges
- Native Craftsnative crafts, moccasins, beaded moccasins, dreamcatchers, war bonnet
- tribal artifactstribal artifacts, ceremonial regalia, tribal jewelry, tribal patterns, woven baskets
- Indigenous Heritageindigenous knowledge, ancestral knowledge, ancestral wisdom, oral traditions, creation stories
- Northwest Coasttotem pole, potlatch, totem poles, thunderbird, clan crest
talking sticksinterruption
Break in continuity
crosstalk · free-for-all · shouting match · talking over · chaos
talking sticksgag order
Court-imposed speech restriction
silencing · muzzle · censorship · suppression · hush
talking stickssilence
Total lack of sound
written communication · sign language · text messaging · nonverbal cues · listening
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