Other than the Roman salute, the one made by Elon Musk during the ceremony for the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 47th president of the United States is perhaps one of the most authentic North American gestures, as Musk himself showed by posting the image of Barack Obama and Kamala Harris while they did it.
It would have originated in the Native American tribes, in particular that of the Lakota-Sioux and means “I give you my heart”. It is a distant greeting made to announce that the trespassing into someone else’s territory had no bellicose intentions. According to custom, it is done with the closed fist of the right hand brought to one’s heart as if to grasp it, bending the face as if to underline that one wants to deprive oneself of the most precious thing, and then throwing it with the outstretched arm and the following gaze the hand open upwards and over the right shoulder. Very different, therefore, from the Roman greeting which sees you raise your arm in front and present your palm with your gaze straight to the interlocutor. In the ancient world the use of the right hand symbolized honor, faithfulness, friendship and loyalty. And it’s Cicero – could he have been a fascist? – to write that the emperor Octavian swore an oath to Julius Caesar by raising and extending his right arm towards his statue.
So our keyboard anti-fascists have once again taken something far from the Twenty Years as fascist, this time something truly American that derives from what scholars today call Pils, the “Sign Language of the Plains Indians” which sees a multitude of signs, some obvious, such as an index finger pointing upwards to indicate “up ” or a lateral movement to say “come here”. But also more elaborate signals as explained well by the elderly Eastern Shoshone chief Willie LeClair (who passed away in 2023), who was filmed while explaining these gestures and who proposed a project to save his language from oblivion. Something very similar is also described in Dee Brown’s splendid book “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee”, considered an essay on the life of Native Americans. Which is worth the few dollars of online purchase.
Of course, linking the expressions of esteem for the exponents of the European right to an elusive Roman greeting is easy, but no less than confusing the fist raised as a sign of struggle for the rights of African Americans with that to symbolize unity in the organizations and parties of the Marxist left. And again, with that shown against apartheid in South Africa or again in China in state institutions and by government officials. The Greek philosopher Aristotle thought that hands were a branch of our mind as he saw gesturing as an extension of thoughts and actions. He thought that the movements of the hands were one with our emotions, allowing us to express ourselves even without using words, and that the hands could say what a less refined language could not communicate. But evidently on the left they think that Elon Musk can’t do it. An easy prediction: with political correctness, you will no longer be able to raise a hand even at school to communicate that you know the answer to a question so as not to offend your classmates (the k is not a typo). And perhaps today you have to be careful even when calling a taxi the old fashioned way.