This document discusses indigenous communication practices among various communities. It defines indigenous communication and notes that it includes transmitting news, entertainment and social exchanges in a culturally specific way. It then examines various indigenous communication practices like language, media such as town criers and griots, non-verbal cues, concepts of time and respect. It also explores the role of myths in sharing cultural history and lessons. The document emphasizes that indigenous forms of oral communication are important for preserving culture and should be recognized in development efforts.

1. Indigenous
communication pra
ctices and myths
COM 830
Evonne Mwangale Kiptinness

2. Indigenous Communication
Definitions
 Indigenous - originating or occurring naturally in
a particular place; native.
 Indigenous Communication includes the
transmission of entertainment, news, persuasion,
announcements, and social exchanges of every
type among indigenous peoples
 it is an important aspect of culture and the means
by which a culture is preserved, handed down,
and adapted.

3. Indigenous communication
practices
 Language
 Media
 Non-verbal communication
 Time
 Respect
 Family roles and decision making
 Titles
 Touch
 Silence

4. Language
 Do we foresee a death of traditional African
languages?
 How can language be promoted? (family,
religious and educational institutions, media)
 What role do indigenous languages play in
development communication?

5. Media
 The Town Crier - The town-crier is usually an eloquent
individual who understands the community and wherever he
beats his gong, heads turn and ears twitch (Soola, 1999).
The people recognized that the message must be important
and urgent to warrant the dispatch of the crier e.g. the death
of an elder, on coming war….
 Trumpet and booming of guns
 Oral poetry and music
 Festivals - Marriages, naming, burial and chieftaincy titles
are often a must-attend for Africans
 Folklores - used to teach morals, create amusement and
laughter, expose the follies of people and extol their virtues

6. Media Cont.
 Griots - (praise-singers and story tellers have for
centuries transmitted news and information and
have influence and importance. They are valued
and create systems of discourse which instruct
and entertain.
 Griots also keep records, detailing birth, deaths and
the history of social, political and economic
relationship within and outside the community. In his
or her stories and tales, the griots use many
proverbs, idioms, wise-sayings to form important part
of the common collective consciousness.

7. Non-verbal communication
 Did our ancestors communicate non-verbally?
(smoke signals
Family roles and decision
making
 Do men and women have different roles
which affect communication

8. Time
 What concept of time exists in your
community?
 When you visit with someone do you go at a
specific time? How much time should you
take with them?
 When should you leave

9. Respect
 How is respect shown in your culture?
 Is looking into someone's eyes when you are
talking to them respectful
 How far away should you stand when
speaking to someone?

10. Titles
 Did titles matter?
 How do you communicate with someone who
has a title? e.g. elder, oracle
Touch
 How much physical contact did our ancestors
have with others?
 How did they greet each other?

11. Silence
 Is silence a positive practice in
communication among indigenous
communities?

12. Significance of indigenous
communication
 indigenous media can be used to raise the
standard of living in the rural areas by using them
in adult education programmes to teach basic
health habits and technology
 indigenous language press can be a veritable
instrument in mobilizing the vast majority
 mobilization for development
 arts, writing and verbal messages, is powerful in
bringing about desired changes in the lives of a
community

13. Myths
Definition
 a traditional story, especially one concerning
the early history of a people or explaining
some natural or social phenomenon, and
typically involving supernatural beings or
events.
 a widely held but false belief or idea.

14. Indigenous communication myths
 What are the myths told in your tribe?
 Origin
 Cultural heroes
 The spirits and the gods
 Animals and how they acquired their traits
 Of Kings
 What was the purpose of these myths?
 Who were the tellers?
 Are they still relevant today?

15. Conclusion
 Some scholars believe that people in oral cultures learn
by apprenticeship, by listening and repeating what they
hear, by mastering proverbs and ways of combining
and recombining them, by assimilating other formulary
materials, and by participating in a kind of corporate
retrospection.
 In an oral culture, conceptualized knowledge needs to
be repeated often or it vanishes.
 when attempting to bring new ideas to rural cultures,
the stored knowledge is being added to or adjusted -
this needs to be done incrementally.
 This way of learning – orally and incrementally – is not
understood by Western Communication Scholars,
whose own theories of learning and media effects may
be different.

16. References
 http://kabakaeasy.blogspot.co.ke/2012/12/indi
genous-communication-systems-cla-706.html
 Soola, E. O. (1999) “Traditional and Modern
Media Use and Strategies for Effective
Environmental Awareness” Journal of
Communication and Language Arts. (1): 32-
44.