Language twisting twisting

Something clicked for me after having lunch with Michael yesterday. Being me, with the training I've had, I usually like things to be explained clearly, directly, and explicitly. But it seems that much of indigenous knowledge is conveyed indirectly, implicitly, through metaphor and story. I never really understood why this was the case. Why would tabaqueros in the Amazon call a jaguar a basket? Why would the Tzutujil Maya talk about fresh water as the daughter of the sun and the moon? Why so much "inside knowledge", and coded language and visual symbols in Aboriginal knowledge and art? Somehow, after our talk over lunch, it seemed clear to me: the kinds of things indigenous elders are talking about are beyond the full comprehension of humans. To talk about them clearly and explicitly would be to treat such things as if the knowledge about them was all tidy and contained in a box, as if the words could convey the complete nature of the thing. Since words cannot do so, the only accurate way to talk about such things is indirectly, through coded language. The only respectful and truthful way to talk about such things is through codes that call on intuitive, implicit processes in the mind. Such codes prevent those who are outsiders (who do not have deep knowledge of the thing) from making the mistake of thinking they understand the whole thing. This may be for their own protection: a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.