Cultural Faux Pas at the Hopi Tribe
Brett Nelson
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In 2008, as I was transitioning from a career in Finance to HRD Consulting, I received an intriguing offer from a Native American consulting firm to join them for a two-day workshop with the Hopi Tribe. The Hopi Tribe is a sovereign nation located in remote northeastern Arizona (USA), and they have diverse holdings in mining, ranching, and commercial property. Our job was to assist the tribal council in analyzing and strategically planning how to maximize their profits from these assets.
The lead consultant and owner of the consulting firm was an Apache called Kevin that I had met while working in Sedona, Arizona, the previous year. (Kevin is also a former chairman of the Yavapai-Apache Nation Tribal Council.) Joining us on the trip to the Hopi Tribe was a third consultant, a former CEO and financial accountant from New York. He and I would be the only non-Native Americans present.
It was on the drive to the Hopi Tribe that I committed my first cultural faux pas. As we approached our destination, I turned to Kevin and asked: “Are we going to have a powwow tonight to prepare for tomorrow?” Unsurprisingly a heavy silence descended in the car, and as I quickly replayed what I'd just said in my mind, I cringed in dismay.
Powwow is a North American Indian term that describes a ceremony involving feasting, singing, and dancing. It is also widely used in the US to describe a meeting for discussion, and I had used the term regularly for years. It is also, I now know, widely considered among Native Americans to be highly culturally insensitive (i.e. offensive).
I apologized immediately, of course, and, fortunately, Kevin was patient with me. He said, “I have thick skin, but don’t say things like to the Hopi.” The Hopi, it turns out, are a famously traditional people.
But, alas, I wasn’t done with the faux pas! The next day, as we were introduced to the Hopi Tribal Council, I enthusiastically shook hands with each of them while introducing myself, as most Americans do. Imagine my confusion when none of them shook my hand back. They did offer their hands but when I (quite naturally, I thought) squeezed them, there was no return squeeze. They didn’t do anything, in fact, except keep their hands extended--they were just hanging there, limp and immobile in the air. It was a bizarre experience. ?
That night, after the first consulting session had ended, Kevin pulled me aside and said, “By the way, never squeeze a Native American’s hands. We feel as if you are squeezing our spirits when you do that.”
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What!!! I remember blinking in shock and then asking him why he hadn’t warned me earlier, but all he said was, “It’s okay. Now you know. But don’t do it again.” But the damage, to a certain extent, at least, had been done. First impressions are important…
So what’s the lesson here, other than not to squeeze someone's spirit? As I have written about in earlier articles I was not nearly as aware of the importance of Culture as I am now. In fact, it was shortly after this experience that I received Intercultural Competence training, and the missteps I made with the Hopi are one reason I was so open to it. And why I found it immediately and immeasurably valuable. I had made these blunders within the borders of my own country--granted within another nation’s sovereign borders, but still!
And so, as always, preparation is key. Faux pas can be fatal in business. Intercultural Competence means, first and foremost, being culturally aware so you can avoid them.
About the author: Brett Nelson is a US-based HRD Consultant, program designer, and facilitator. Having spent most of the past 25 years living and working in Asia, he is well acquainted with intercultural pitfalls. Helping others to avoid them is his mission.?