Brandt, E. 1981

Brandt, Elizabeth. 1981. "Native American attitudes toward literacy and recording in the southwest." The Journal of the Linguistic Association of the Southwest. Interest level: specialist.

Hypothesis is that "Native Americans in the southwest have a[n] historical and contemporary aversion to writing and other relatively permanent means of data storage." They believe expression is grounded in religion, and that speech comes from the soul or heart.

The Taos say white people have to read a book to know there is a God, but Indians know there is a Creator just by looking around.

Witherspoon states, "according to the Navajo, speech is the outer form of thought, and thought is the inner form of speech." Native American speech, carried by the breath, is seen as "alive and moist," and writing is seen as "dead and dry." "The reliance on writing is believed to interfere with attention, thus interrupting listening, seeing, and understanding with the heart." They believe writing destroys their ability to remember. Native Americans resist writing or taping anything with religious or cultural significance. They want to preserve their ancestral secrets. Many are literate in English, but they see no need to read or write in their own language. They value conveying information through direct social interaction.

• Bibliography module: Brandt, E. 1981
• In overview module: Bibliography (Literacy): B
• In modular book: Bibliography (Literacy), by Doris Gallemore, Trudi C. Hunt, Jeanne Swanson, and Stephen L. Walter
• In document collection: Reference materials
• In bookshelf: Literacy

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