Audience

The importance of audience is obvious within the context of rhetorical strategies but the importance of audience within Native American rhetoric seems to jump out at us, demanding our attention. This importance is due to the concept of 'survivance'; when a nation must survive and resist, the rhetoric must make moves to survive and resist. This survivance depends on the understanding each author has of its audience and the ways in which its audience plays a role in survivance. Without this recognition of audience the ways in which rhetoric serves Native American's would be altered drastically. Janna Knittel's essay on Leonard Peltier's prison writings draws upon the importance of audience within the context of Peltier's writing by bringing attention to the ways in which Peltier uses 'you' as a device to hone in on his audience. "Peltier's inclusion of the audience shifts according to his purpose" (123). His desire to target specific audiences within his writing stems from the attempt to make better the understanding of Native customs and culture. The use of 'you' could have been manipulated to regard only Natives to which Peltier is speaking to, which would then create a relationship between Peltier and Natives only. 'You' could have been used to address the colonial, white members of society in a way that puts the blame on them and only them. Instead Peltier changes his use of 'you' throughout his writing which allows for a larger audience base. The management of audience within Native American rhetoric has proven (to me) more important than just about any other aspect. Without the knowledge and understanding of whom they are trying to reach, Native rhetoricians can be dramatically misunderstood. In previous rhetorical work we have studied throughout the semester, audience has served a significant purpose yet I believe it is within the Native American rhetoric that audience is most significant. When telling a story, when describing a battle, when alluding to politics, Native rhetoricians are working to target and persuade an audience. I would go as far to saying that audience is the single most important aspect of a Native's rhetorical strategies.