A Time Before Deception: Truth in Communication, Culture, and Ethics

by Thomas W. Cooper, Oren Lyons (Epilogue by), Fox Tree (Foreword by)

Overview

In his groundbreaking exploration of the forms, meanings, and ethics of Indigenous communication, Cooper presents evidence that Native cultures may have originated from higher—not more "primitive"—civilizations. Looking beneath the surface of tribal communication, Cooper describes practices of tribal cultures worldwide and examines more specifically the communication ethic of the Dine (Navajo) of northern Arizona and the Shuswap people of British Columbia, with both of whom he lived for several months. What he finds is the deeper significance of communication for these early Americans: it is at once the embodiment of truth, the expression of gratitude to the Creator, and the vehicle for maintaining harmony with the natural world.

About the Author;

Thomas W. Cooper, former assistant to Marshall McLuhan, is a tenured associate professor of mass communication at Emerson College. He received the Helen Rose Ethics in Communication Award for 1996 and honorable mention for the Coltrin Communication Professor of the Year Award from the International Radio and Television Society in 1997. Thomas researches ethical questions in mass communication, journalism, speech, and the arts, and has edited many publications in these fields, including "Television and Ethics," "Natural Rhythms," and "Communication Ethics and World Change."

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780940666597
Publisher:	Clear Light Publishers
Publication date:	09/01/1997
Pages:	244
Product dimensions:	6.27(w) x 9.35(h) x 0.97(d)

What People are Saying About This

David L. Smith

Here is a treasure of knowledge, insight, and especially inspiration for all who have an interest in ethical, "authentic" communication, beyond the Native American cultures which provide both context and model...a call to learn from Indigenous Peoples...a journey of the heart as well as the mind.

Editorial Reviews

Rejecting the assumption that literate cultures are superior to preliterate ones, Cooper explores how native peoples-Amerindian, Australian, Hawaiian, African, etc.-utilize a multitude of precise, stylized, disciplined communication forms ranging from chant, song, dance and memorized myths to sign language, facial and body painting and silent communion. In many native societies, the primary form of communication, he maintains, is with the Great Spirit, intermediary to a universe commingling animals, plants, spirits, weather patterns and humans in an organic whole. Cooper, a communication professor at Emerson College in Boston, incorporates his anthropological fieldwork with the peaceful, egalitarian Shushwap people of British Columbia and with the enduring, prayerful Din Navajo of northeastern Arizona. He finds that among indigenous peoples generally, customs and ethical practices regulate social interactions, and further, that a universal set of shared moral teachings cuts across tribes and continents. A self-described WASP from Tennessee, Cooper has penetrated deeply into native modes of communication and ethics, bringing back compelling moral perspectives. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly