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Post by Hal Sherman on Nov 19, 2005 21:03:07 GMT -5
In the Indiana Historical Society Publication of "Delaware Culture Chronology" by Vernon Kinietz 1946 in an interview with Captain Pipe, Captain Chipps and John Johnston it's stated that the Indians used the left hand to shake hands since it's the closest to the heart and that the Indian started the custom of shaking hands in ancient times as a greeting. I had never heard this before and wondered if anyone else has read anything on this?
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Post by Abraham Lincoln on Dec 21, 2005 6:20:46 GMT -5
In the Indiana Historical Society Publication of "Delaware Culture Chronology" by Vernon Kinietz 1946 in an interview with Captain Pipe, Captain Chipps and John Johnston it's stated that the Indians used the left hand to shake hands since it's the closest to the heart and that the Indian started the custom of shaking hands in ancient times as a greeting. I had never heard this before and wondered if anyone else has read anything on this?  I have always heard the left hand was used to wipe your butt with and the right was used to eat with. I doubt the left hand was used to "shake" hands as is the American custom. The heart is also in the middle of the chest and is about the same distance from the right or left hand. I think this might be one of those "folk tales." |
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Post by Richard L Pangburn on Dec 25, 2005 7:30:09 GMT -5
I'm not absolutely sure, but I think the instances of hands being shaken were natives kowtowing to white conventions rather than natural native conventions. Best fictional native handshake occurs in DISTANT DRUMS, a Warner Bros movie from 1951 which starred Gary Cooper, Arthur Hunnicutt, Richard Webb, and Sheb Wooley. The frontiersman has a little trouble breaking off the handshake and says, "Shaking hands with an injun is like pumping a well."
Fiction, of course.
Merry Christmas all.
Richard L. Pangburn
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Post by Hal Sherman on Jan 2, 2006 15:02:00 GMT -5
The above post by Abraham regarding the use of the right and left hand was a custom of the people from India, so I think he has the wrong Indians in mind.
I heard a story from a respected historian that the way that the greeting "HOW" got started by the Indians happened when some boarded a boat and the Captain greeted them by saying " How do you do", and the Indians couldn't remember all of it and just started saying HOW. Ha Ha Ha.
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