Talking Stick

Today’s blip is hanging in my wife’s car and is called a talking stick.

“The talking stick, also called a speaker's staff, is an instrument of aboriginal democracy used by many tribes, especially those of indigenous peoples of the Northwest Coast of North America. The talking stick may be passed around a group or used only by leaders as a symbol of their authority and right to speak in public.

Interest in Indigenous tribal cultures has seen the appropriation of the talking stick by many non-Indigenous organizations, such as the Boy Scouts and the Rainbow Gatherings.”

William Golding used a shell (the Conch) in Lord of the Flies in such a way so that a form of order and democracy could be maintained in a group of British boys stuck on an uninhabited island.

I do keep wondering why this talking stick hangs in my wife’s car – does it mean that she always has the right to talk?