Indigenous Communication and Trust in the Workplace
“We want to highlight the relationship that exists between the land and communication from Indigenous perspectives. Without territory and land understood as a social construct of human and non-human relationships, there is no community… Communication is not only from a sender to a receiver but is built and reaffirmed in dialogue.”
Pedro Garzón López (Chinanteco), Cultural Survival
We have talked extensively about the different elements of relational communication in the workplace. It’s now time to think about how relational communication can build trust in organizations committed to reconciliation.
Indigenous Behaviours in Nonverbal Communication
In the previous section we looked at the five questions that must be asked before proceeding in cross-cultural communication. The table below demonstrates the similarities and differences seen among and between the Indigenous Peoples and the White majority group of Canada.
| Nonverbal Communication | Indigenous Communities in Canada | White Majority in Canada |
| Gestures | Indigenous peoples make intricate use of their hands to narrate spoken language, convey emotions and actions, and to describe elements of the story. Additionally, Indigenous peoples have gestures that are specific to ceremonies that may also come about during everyday conversation. Finally, a common part of Indigenous communication is what is referred to as a speaking item. The owner is granted the privilege to speak and passes the item to the following speaker to signal that it is their turn.
Like the White Majority, a slight head nod notions a respectful listener.
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Smiling is a big part of communication among majority group Canadians, more so than with Indigenous groups that tend to be less facially expressive. Similarly, gestures such as pointing with one’s index finger, raising one’s eyebrows, and thumbs up are all frequent components of communication. Indigenous groups are familiar with these but use them less frequently than their majority group counterparts.
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| Directness | To the typical Western eye, Indigenous communication seems to be indirect. While it is certainly not “direct”, it is important to remember that much of Indigenous communication has evolved around storytelling, which may be perceived as a more indirect style due to its heavy emphasis on imagery, description, metaphor, and interrelatedness. Contrasting the Western world, stories often do not have a clear beginning, middle, and end.
Lastly, precautions are taken to preserve values while communicating, namely respect and harmony, which necessitate a seemingly more indirect approach.
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While not as brazen as their southern neighbours, majority group Canadians generally steer in the direction of direct communication.
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| Gaze | Eye contact while speaking is not as customary as it is in the white majority group. Instead, the eyes are used as a sign of deference and respect. | Similarly, Canadian majority groups value eye contact while speaking and it is often a sign of one’s contextual confidence. |
| Touch | In general, touch is used to covey warmth, connection, and familiarity. Examples of common Indigenous touches include those related to 1) greetings and welcomings, 2) comfort and support, and 3) ceremonies and rituals.
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There are many similarities within touch among Indigenous and majority group Canadians. However, a few notable touches that are more frequent among majority group Canadians include pats on the back, high fives, and fist bumps.
Once more, Indigenous groups are more likely to be familiar with majority group touches than vice-versa. |
| Space | Indigenous identity is very much tied to the land in which they come from. This connection is often highlighted in their communication through storytelling, feelings of interrelatedness, and ceremonial proceedings, as seen in smudging.
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While some cultures are very much spiritually connected to their homelands, this connection is usually felt to a lesser extent among white North Americans who tend to have a murkier ancestry.
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Let’s think about an example now to highlight the importance of this foundation of trust in the workplace.
The Importance of Trust in the Workplace
Connected to interrelatedness is the idea of trust for Indigenous employees in the workplace. Interrelatedness can help to create high levels of trust, which can in turn create more effective high trust work environments.
Some examples of the importance of high-trust work environments include:
- Workers at high-trust companies report 74% less stress.
- Workers at high trust companies report are 50% more productive.
- Workers at high trust companies are 40% less likely to experience burnout.
- Only 27% of people trust business leaders to tell the truth.
- Trusting companies make substantially more money.
- Trust is achieved through personal relations and understanding of one another.
Now how can effective communication help build trust at work?
- Trust is created through social processes of interaction and conversation
- Interpersonal sensitivity, rapport building, and reciprocal information sharing build trust at work
- By using relational communication, organizations can promote more effective intercultural communication for conversations, conflict management, and employment interviews all of which have been identified as challenging situations for Indigenous employees.
An Indigenous researcher with the Indigenous Workways project remarked, “It was through the process of having relational conversations with my participants that trust and accountability were created and how I developed meaningful moments with them that the stories came to the surface” (Hunt, 2021).
A Final Note on Cultural Differences
Through the previous sections we have increasingly seen differences between Indigenous behaviours and those of the White majority group, and even ourselves. While it might be tempting to aspire a higher degree of one trait or another (depending on our own values), we must remember that these cultural differences are just that: differences. It is in recognizing and understanding these differences that we will most aptly communicate among ourselves, as well as with individuals from all over the world.
Reflection
Take some time to reflect privately or with a colleague on the questions below:
- How might you apply the 5 Rs to interactions with others within your workplace?
- What affect do you think this might have on your work environment and relationships?
