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Copyright 2002 Carrying Council in the Wilderness Variations of Council Especially with the introduction of witnesses, there are numerous variations on the basic council format. Variations can be introduced in the structure of council or in its elaboration. Council Formats The council format should be tinkered with only with extreme care and caution. Clearly, there can be good reasons to change the council format, but I think the group should be comfortable with the standard format before beginning to experiment. The following are some examples of format changes have been used successfully under a variety of circumstances. The Web Format In the web format – sometimes called the popcorn format – the talking stick is placed in the center of the circle, rather than passed around. Any participant can pick up the stick, speak, and return the stick to the center of the circle. It is called a web because the talking stick moves back and forth across the circle like a web being spun; it is called the popcorn format because participants pop up seemingly at random to take the talking stick from the center. This format is particularly useful at the end of a council session: it allows people to tie up loose ends, summarize the proceedings, make a final contribution, or perhaps even speak for the first time after having been silent on previous rounds. Sometimes, too, a web format allows greater integration of contributions: a story can be gathered more coherently from several tellers, or participants may be able to respond more directly to someone who has just spoken. A variation on this variation is to have the speaker have the option of either putting the talking stick back into the center of the circle or passing it to another participant. This is probably best limited to an ongoing council whose members know each other well. It definitely enhances the practice of spontaneity – although, of course, the recipient, as always, has the option of silently returning the talking stick to the center, or passing it to someone else. The Response Format In the response format, the participant holding the talking stick has the option of asking the others in the circle to respond immediately to what was said. Again, this seems suited to an ongoing council; the participant holding the talking stick might say, ”I don’t think we handled that decision very well yesterday when we decided to keep on moving after the temperature started to fall. In fact, I’m kind of angry about it. I would really like some immediate feedback on this.” The other participants can then, without holding the talking stick, respond to the dissatisfaction expressed, clear the air, and deal with this one issue – which is clearly important to the speaker – before turning to the next topic. This format provides a good example of the kind of tradeoff required by a change in format. The response format is more orderly, in a way: the issue gets dealt with; the discussion does not wander away from the concerns of the speaker. At the same time, the format shows less trust in the process, less willingness to let the spirit of the council guide the discussion, less sense that what needs to be resolved will in fact be resolved by spirit speaking through each participant. It does not trust, for example, that John’s concern about the decisionmaking process will be unexpectedly illuminated by Mary’s apparently unrelated story of once having been lost in the woods. The Spiral Format The spiral format is suited to very large groups, where a regular council structure would be time-consuming and unwieldy. Those who are ready to speak sit in a circle at the center, with the others around them. As each participant in the inner circle finishes, he or she waits to listen to the next person, then leaves the inner circle, and a person in the outer circle moves inward to await his or her turn to speak. Waiting until after the next person speaks avoids the appearance of the speaker stepping away from the circle before listening to a response. In this way, new speakers keep spiraling into the council from among the witnesses outside, and speakers leave their seats to become witnesses. Depending on the size of the group and the time available, it can be decided whether participants will be allowed to spiral in and speak more than once. The Fishbowl Format The fishbowl format, like the spiral format, is useful for a group too large for universal participation, but here there is no spiraling in and out; the only speakers are those in the inner circle. This may be what is called a wisdom council, where the council speakers are respected elders, or are elected representatives, or have special expertise or experience in the area being discussed. After a vision fast, there may be a council of elders held in fishbowl format, where those returning from a wilderness vision fast tell their stories, in turn, to the vision fast guides, who then mirror and elaborate on the experience. Or the participants and witnesses may form a natural division of the full group. It can be extraordinarily enlightening for women, say, to be witnesses to a council of men discussing their relationships with women; it can be extraordinarily enlightening for men to be witnesses to a council of women discussing their fears of sexual violence. The Dyadic Format The dyadic format is a special case of the fishbowl format which is particularly useful for resolving interpersonal disputes or tensions between two members of the team. In this council format, the only council speakers are the two antagonists, and the rest of the group function as witnesses. The role of the witnesses is to observe and, if called upon, comment on the process, not to comment on the content, which remains solely between the two council speakers. Council Elaboration Council can range from the highly elaborated and formalized to the quick and simple. In a wilderness team that is accustomed to council, it would not be unusual to hear someone say, “Guys, an issue has come up about cleanup. Let’s circle up for a minute and deal with it.” On the other hand, council rituals can become excessively elaborated. One council facilitator I know had developed a relatively lengthy introductory ritual, consisting of invocations of the four directions, with precisely specified wording and actions. At one council, he had a younger female apprentice do the opening ceremony under his direction. She was having some trouble keeping everything straight, and the ceremony was awkwardly interrupted by her turning to the facilitator for instructions, and with the facilitator from time to time whispering audibly about sections of the ceremony she had forgotten or not done quite right. This was not a good model for spontaneity of expression or for an open acceptance of what comes from the heart. | ||
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