Chin,

Thanks for the replys you guys. I was being a bit argumentive but also legitamatley confused, or perhaps challenged, by the meaning/ use of the word "the West" as applied to say, Western philosophy. It makes sense that in the old ancient world construct (Africa, Europe, Asia) things such as Greek philosophy would be considered "western philosophy" and that title has stuck to it's modern adherants. You guys cleared that one up!

I don't want to argue but I will say that there are records that were kept by (New World/American) Native cultures. The Mayans had codexes, aka manuscripts with their own distinct heiroglyphic writing that the conquistadors mostly destroyed, with only a few remaining texts in existence today. In North America the Cherokee established an written alphabet (after colonization) that could be translated into English. There are two schools of thought behind this: 1) George Guess, a Cherokee, created the written alphabet during his day (1800's) & 2) George Guess edited an older, already existing written alphabet so it could more easily be translated into English. Nobody seems to know for sure which is the case. I would say that if he did it all himself, than he must have been a super-genius.
Also, other North American First Nations had a "cruder" or if you will, more minimal and symbolic way of keeping records- not just in oral traditions but also in Birch Bark "scrolls" (the early colonists called them "scrolls"), but this was more like notching lines into the bark scroll, although the lines were indeed a language, much like old Irish Ogam- in fact many people confuse these markings for Ogam script, although they are slightly different and are American Indian in origin, most notably Algonquin. In fact not only birch bark was used, but there is a cave in Kentucky that has this script marked into the stone. Academics can actually decipher some of it. There are also stones in New England with this script to be found most notably in Vermont, usually associated with some of the stone Chamber and effigy sites.
Lastly there are things like Wampum belts, which are a kind of written (artistic) record. Although these depict a sort of heiroglyphic pictograph they are to be read and understood for record-keeping. So there are records, but sort of in a different sense than "a westrner" would think to look in a book.
Also there are Native stone monuments, such as effigy cairns, that can tell a story. I met a white man in my area who is a mathematician who studies cairn fields and he has determined that some of the cairn fields line up to constellations in the night sky. Other cairns marked ceremonial spots, where a battle was fought, or to remember a person (sort of like a Vietnam Memorial Wall). In this way, some of the stone-works are records, too.

Sorry- I wrote more than I anticipated. That's all I have to say basically for what I understand of Native American record keeping, the 101. Now, back to the topic. It is amazing that after so long that figures like Plato, Lao Tzu, etc. are still being studied and relevant today.

And again guys, thanks for clearing up the whole "west" thing- makes more sense to me now!