A Palimpsest of Diné Voices

Abstract

We use the idea of a palimpsest to probe and illuminate Hayse's model of communication as a dance - not simply the erasure of a single manuscript but the scraping away of the communication system of an entire people. Among Navajo (Dine’), oral tradition and oral language still operates within mediated print and digital technologies as a complementarity. There is still a commitment to honoring whose voice is telling the stories in American Indian literature, for colonialist attitudes may still be coded with unchallenged stereotypes, cultural inaccuracies for readers. Modeling the intersection of Diné culture and Anglo culture – both historical roots and current issues - in a communication/information retrieval setting can provide insights for those wrestling with the impacts of technological erasure; it also broadens understanding of information seeking and retrieval; for similar, if less shocking and obvious, problems exist between many groups.

Keywords

• oral documents
• diné voices
• communication
• cultural palimpsest