Should I remove my shoes and address a young Mohawk chief as "sir" when meeting him?
am meeting a male Mohawk chief tomorrow to conduct an interview for my research. He is actually quite young--only 27 years old, so exactly my age--and serves as one of five chiefs in his community. I have only communicated so far with his personal assistant, who just sent me an e-mail informing me that I must remember to show "full respect" when I meet the chief tomorrow and remember all rules regarding how I should address him, appropriate attire and rules about shoes. He didn't provide any of these rules at all in his earlier e-mail and I won't be able to contact him until I actually meet the chief tomorrow morning. So, I assume that the rule concerning attire is simply that I have to look neat and clean when I arrive, but I have no clue what he means by the reference to rules regarding my shoes and address when I arrive. Am I supposed to take off my shoes? Do I call him "chief" or "sir," even though he is exactly my age?? Based on this picture, this chief dresses in entirely modern clothing and looks really young. Calling him sir is kind of strange, but i'm not sure what I should do. The PA seems to really insist on "showing full respect."
am meeting a male Mohawk chief tomorrow to conduct an interview for my research. He is actually quite young--only 27 years old, so exactly my age--and serves as one of five chiefs in his community. I have only communicated so far with his personal assistant, who just sent me an e-mail informing me that I must remember to show "full respect" when I meet the chief tomorrow and remember all rules regarding how I should address him, appropriate attire and rules about shoes. He didn't provide any of these rules at all in his earlier e-mail and I won't be able to contact him until I actually meet the chief tomorrow morning. So, I assume that the rule concerning attire is simply that I have to look neat and clean when I arrive, but I have no clue what he means by the reference to rules regarding my shoes and address when I arrive. Am I supposed to take off my shoes? Do I call him "chief" or "sir," even though he is exactly my age?? Based on this picture, this chief dresses in entirely modern clothing and looks really young. Calling him sir is kind of strange, but i'm not sure what I should do. The PA seems to really insist on "showing full respect."