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  Acknowledgements

  This book, of course, owes its existence to those I met along the way. Some of you appear in the book (and, except in one instance to protect his safety, I haven’t changed your names), many others don’t appear directly, though your voices and thoughts resonate on every page. You told me your stories and answered with delight the many questions I had about your languages and cultures. I thank you and hope you are all well.

  I would like to thank the professors I had while doing my graduate work. You fostered well the philosophical turns I took and always pointed me toward the right books and theories. Equally, I would like to thank my students and fellow teachers at the Calgary Board of Education. Many of my students came from war-torn countries, and they told me much about places to which even I dared not go.

  For my family, especially my parents, I’m indebted beyond repayment for their endless support and encouragement (“Where’s he off to now?”).

  For my editor at Dundurn Press, Michael Carroll, who saw the promise of the book proposal and continued to support and advise me through the long process of publication, I’m also thankful.

  Finally, I thank my friends for their love of adventure and intelligent conversation, with special thanks to Dr. Charlene Elliott for her editorial comments on every one of the several hundred drafts of this book that I managed to fumble my way through.

  Index

  The page numbers in this index refer to the print edition of this book.

  Aboriginal Languages,

  171, 277–78, 280,

  305

  Aboriginal Peoples,

  277–78

  Achuar, 216–19, 221–39

  Achuar Language, 216,

  223, 226, 227

  Acropolis, 49–51

  Aesop’s Fables, 135,

  143, 237

  Afghanistan, 86, 325–26

  Africa, 214, 246, 316

  Agglutinating, 85, 171,

  197

  Alaska, 270, 273, 283,

  286, 299–300

  Alberta, 134, 305, 322

  Alexander the Great,

  47–48

  Algonquian, 278, 300,

  306, 312

  Alhambra, 70

  Alighieri, Dante 57

  Altaic, 80

  Amazon Jungle and

  River, 72, 193,

  197, 215–39

  Ambergris Caye, 243

  Andalusia, 69

  Angkor Thom, 138

  Angkor Wat, 126–31,

  139

  Antarctic, 174

  Anthropologist, 188,

  201, 224, 229, 235,

  275, 300, 307

  Anthropology, 217, 272

  Arabic, 16–19, 25, 28,
<
br />   30, 32, 42, 45, 80,

  155, 262, 312, 317,

  326, 333

  Aramaic, 19, 28

  Arctic, 121, 303, 313

  Argentina, 196

  Aristotle, 47

  Arizona, 303, 306,

  314–17

  Armenian, 19

  Asia, 37, 47, 79, 85–86,

  100–01, 109, 124,

  137, 140, 146, 262,

  317

  Asia Minor, 35, 79

  Astronomy, 252

  Atatürk, Mustafa

  Kemal, 80

  Athens, 30–31, 39,

  47–51

  Atomic Bomb, 164–65,

  320–21

  Auckland, 181–83

  Australia, 152, 154, 179,

  190, 205, 212, 243

  Austronesian, 171

  Avatar, 130

  Aymara, 211–14

  Azerbaijani, 85

  Babylon, 17

  Bali, 152–63

  Balkans, 80

  Ball Court, 251, 256, 267

  Bangkok, 145–46, 148

  Bantu, 214

  Barkhor, 120

  Bas Reliefs, 124, 129,

  139

  Basque, 64–65, 74

  Bayon, 138–39

  Bedouin, 26

  Beijing, 86, 89, 117

  Belize, 90, 243–53

  Belize City, 243, 252

  Bengali, 37

  Bering Strait, 300

  Bible, 17, 19, 46, 259

  Blackfoot, 19, 278, 305,

  306, 310, 312, 313

  Blue Jesus, 132–33, 185

  Blue Mosque, 79, 81

  Boas, Franz, 300, 307

  Bolivia, 212

  Bora Bora, 174–75

  Bosphorus, 79, 86

  Brazil, 216, 235

  British Empire, 47–48,

  72

  Buddha, 37, 100, 103,

  105, 139, 146

  Buddhism, 103, 105,

  110, 137, 138, 144

  Buffalo, 100, 134, 141,

  303–05, 312–16,

  319, 322

  Bullfight, 66–69

  Byzantium, 80

  Caesar, Julius, 55

  Calgary, 305, 325, 332

  Cambodia, 124–44, 329

  Campbell, Joseph, 131,

  261, 268, 274

  Cannibals, 27, 186, 219

  Cappadocia, 86, 90

  Caste System, 161

  Catalan, 61

  Catholic, 48, 67, 69, 70,

  130, 204, 205

  Chile, 196

  China, 86, 103, 114,

  117, 122, 126, 326

  Chinese Language, 19,

  40, 86, 90, 102,

  113, 115, 119, 137,

  247, 257, 307, 323

  Cho Oyu, 108

  Chomolungma, 109

  Chomsky, Noam, 65–

  66, 81, 247, 256,

  260, 261, 318

  Christ, Jesus, 14, 15,

  20, 22, 26, 27, 28,

  62, 69, 132–33,

  185, 247

  Christianity, 19, 27, 80,

  85, 87, 105, 185

  Christmas, 296, 331

  Churning of the Sea of

  Milk, 130–32, 138

  Codes, 44, 226, 256,

  257, 320–21, 322

  Codex, 257

  Cognates, 32–33,

  36–37, 48, 313

  Colombia, 71–72, 196,

  212

  Colorado, 317

  Colosseum, 54–55

  Colour, 307–09

  Columbus, Christopher,

  70, 75

  Condor, 200, 202, 208

  Connotations, 17, 105,

  116, 244, 322, 323

  Conquistadors, 198, 201,

  203, 210, 211, 257

  Constantine the Great,

  80

  Constantinople, 80–81,

  85, 86

  Cook, James, 179–80

  Cook Islands, 172,

  181–86

  Copacabana, 212–13

  Corinth, Gulf of, 31, 33

  Corinth Canal, 51

  Creation Stories, 130,

  235, 250, 258, 259,

  260, 276, 316

  Cree, 278, 282, 283,

  284, 285, 306, 310,

  311, 312, 313

  Cremation, 158–60

  Creole, 246–47, 260

  Crete, 43, 44, 46

  Croatia, 212

  Croesus, King, 35

  Crusaders, 26, 27, 79

  Cultural Revolution,

  106, 112, 118, 126

  Cuzco, 196–200, 202–

  04, 207–11

  Cycladic Islands, 46

  Da Vinci, Leonardo, 57

  Dalai Lama, 111–15,

  118, 121, 122

  Dani, 308–09

  Dead Sea Scrolls, 25–26

  Deconstructionism, 276

  Delphi, 31, 35

  Dene (see also Northern

  Dene), 286, 302–

  03, 305–07, 313,

  315, 316, 319

  Deng Xiaoping, 122

  Denotations, 105, 116

  Descartes, René, 281

  Descola, Philippe, 224,

  239

  Destruction, 129, 165,

  250–52, 256, 258,

  261, 265

  Dharamsala, 115

  Dinka, 326

  Directness, 148

  Divine Comedy, 57

  Dome of the Rock,

  14, 20

  Donostia, 64

  Dreams, 44, 217–18,

  223, 234–36, 277,

  336

  Dubrovnik, 212

  Dung Gate, 23

  Dutch, 19, 150

  Ecuador, 196, 215–16

  Egypt, 44, 206, 312

  Empires, 35, 47–48,

  55–56, 70–72, 76,

  79, 85, 126, 154,

  196–98, 200, 201,

  203, 215

  English: Borrowings,

  278; Cognates, 32,

  37; Colour Terms,

  308–09; Dominant

  Language, 47,

  56, 115, 289, 314,

  321; Grammar,

  82; Language

  Change, 61;

  Metaphors, 15–16,

  128; Old English,

  32, 37; Pidgin,

  246–47; Position

  in the Mouth,

  33; Pragmatics,

  147–48, 156,

  162–63; Swearing,

  94; Teaching, 325,

  328, 330; Tense,

  213; Translations,

  7, 104–05, 120,

  137, 227, 273, 323;

  Words, 30, 48, 85,

  155, 156, 170, 180,

  231, 267, 307, 313,

  332

  Eskimo, 300

  Estonian, 40

  Ethiopian, 27, 333

  Europe, 36, 37, 48, 64,

  70, 72, 73, 74, 76,

  79, 80, 85, 118,

  126, 141, 143, 171,

  173, 176, 185, 249,

  266, 273, 278, 279,

  305, 311, 317

  Euskara, 64–65

  Everest, Mount, 98,

  100, 108–09

  Farsi, 326

  Fiji, 186, 187, 190–92

  Finnish, 19, 40, 85

  First World War, 80, 311

  Fitzgerald, Robert, 41

  Flood Myths, 204, 235,

  259–60

  Florence, 57–59, 64

  Franco, Generalissimo

  Francisco, 65

  French, 26, 31, 33–34,

  36, 43, 48, 61, 93,

  141, 147, 156,

  172–73, 176, 194,

  277, 281, 282,

  290, 300,

  Frye, Northrop, 131

  Full Moon Party, 149–50

  Future Tense, 213

  Galilei, Galileo, 57

  Gamelan, 157–59

  Ganges River, 100, 110

  Ganxiid Haida (see also

&
nbsp; Red Cod People),

  273

  Garifuna, 246

  German, 24, 33, 36, 37,

  8, 74, 93, 221,

  309, 320

  German Shepherd, 62–

  63, 90, 91, 95–96

  Gibraltar, 72–74

  Glyphs, 45, 250, 252,

  257–58

  God(s), 16–18, 27, 36,

  108, 109, 117, 124,

  126, 127, 130,

  131–33, 138, 146,

  153, 155, 158, 160,

  185, 196, 204,

  210, 251–52, 256,

  259–61

  Graduate School, 12,

  49, 66, 177, 308

  Granada, 69–70

  Great Barrier Reef, 243

  Great Bear Lake, 302

  Great Inuit Snow Hoax,

  299–301

  Greek, 19, 31, 32, 37,

  41–48, 50, 56, 75,

  80, 309

  Greenberg, Joseph,

  32–33, 36

  Guatemala, 253

  Guevara, Che, 283

  Hagia Sophia, 79–81

  Haida, 270–94

  Haida Gwaii (see also

  Queen Charlotte

  Islands), 270, 274,

  276, 279, 283, 287,

  288, 289

  Han Chinese, 113, 117

  Headhunters, 218

  Head-Smashed-In

  Buffalo Jump,

  311–12

  Heaven, 14, 22, 111,

  202, 276

  Hebrew, 18, 19, 22,

  23–25, 28, 29, 30,

  32, 42, 313

  Hemingway, Ernest,

  67–68

  Hendrix, Jimi, 44, 45

  Hero Twins, 252, 256

  Hezekial’s Tunnel,

  20–23

  Hieroglyphics, 44–45,

  201, 257

  Hillary, Sir Edmund, 98

  Himalaya, 98, 101, 106,

  108, 331

  Hindi, 37

  Hindu, 37, 99, 100,

  102, 110, 124, 127,

  130–33, 136, 138,

  143, 144, 153,

  154–55, 160, 161

  Hip Hop, 163

  Hiroshima, 164–66, 321

  Ho Chi Minh, 141

  Hockey, 163, 271, 280,

  332

  Holocaust, 24, 29

  Homer, 41–43

  Homo Erectus, 154

  Hong Kong, 73

  Hopi, 319

  House of Being, 15, 49,

  278, 309

  Howler Monkeys, 264

  Hu Jintao, 122

  Humpback Whales, 269

  Hungarian, 40, 85, 86,

  171

  Icelandic, 33

  Iliad, The, 41–42

  Inca, 193–212, 215

  India, 36, 37, 44, 99, 103,

  106, 114, 115, 137,

  154, 326, 327, 332

  Indirectness, 156

  Indo-European, 37, 40,

  65, 147

  Indonesia, 137, 151,

  153, 154, 156, 171

  Inuit, 155, 278, 299–

  300, 302, 307, 311

  Inuktitut, 278, 300–02,

  313

  Irish, 163