Re-Presenting through CHI

First, an explanation: the full title of this page is “Re-Presenting Seneca Language through Cultural Heritage Imaging: An Exploratory Collaboration” as described below. However, that title in all its fullness still has constraints that WordPress cannot seem to allow. So I have shortened the title for the website and menu.

In April 2025, I had the honor of appearing on the local public radio station with Jamie Jacobs (Tonawanda Seneca, Turtle Clan), managing curator of the Rock Foundation collections at the Rochester Museum and Science Center. We have partnered to cultivate uses of technology to revive the Seneca language from historical texts written by Jesuit priests. Below guest host Noelle Evans, Jamie, and I explore the process of cultural preservation. See below.

Jamie and I are embarking on a project that I am calling “Re-Presenting Seneca Language through Cultural Heritage Imaging: An Exploratory Collaboration.” This project combines human-centered inquiry with tech-infused innovation to revitalize the Seneca (Onondowa’ga:’) language. Using accessible imaging tools and open-source processing methods developed in the RIT interdisciplinary lab that I co-direct, it recovers faded 18th-century French-Seneca dictionary text and returns this knowledge to descendant communities. By transforming recovered vocabulary and cultural teachings into interactive digital storytelling, the initiative confronts archival silences, empowers Indigenous narrative reclamation, and demonstrates how technology can support justice-driven humanities work.

I’ll report more on the project as we move along.