document | Considering Consciousness As Articulated Co-Extension
The research project touched upon in this paper is an attempt to deconstruct, and then reconstruct, a previously undocumented form of image writing traditionally used by the First Nations of North America prior to European contact. This particular paper addresses the need to establish a neutral interpretive methodology for approaching this image writing system.
The historical depth of knowledge encapsulated through this form of image writing is without parallel, and constitutes an important legacy for all of humanity. The recognition of this image writing form constitutes an important step toward realizing the incalculable damage done to the First Nations of North America through the acts of cultural genocide visited upon them during the colonization of North America by European powers. At the same time, the ability for anyone to understand this form of image writing presents us all with clear evidence of the common grounds uniting our shared humanity.
Seeking a neutral framework through which to analyze a previously undocumented form of image writing, this paper attempts to establish an interpretive methodology that would remove the cultural prejudices of value which too often attend academic approaches framed within a characteristically European context.