Navajo world view and culture patterns of speech: A case study in ethnorhetoric

Using ethnographic literature on the Navajo, an attempt was made to describe Navajo ideas about rhetoric. The purpose of such description was to discover the Navajo conception of rhetoric and to determine whether that conception shows significant culture patterning. The inquiry begins with an exposition of certain features of Navajo ethnophilosophy, including metaphysical, epistemological, and psychological beliefs. It is concluded that while the Navajo present no written theory, their discourse is governed by principles of right and strategic action. These principles are related to Navajo conceptions of the nature of man, ways of knowing, and the nature of truth, and they are evidence of distinct culture patterning.