Ofelia Zepeda’s biography, net worth, fact, career, awards and life story

Intro American linguist
Is Linguist 
Poet 
Writer 
Educator 
From United States of America 
Type Academia 
Literature 
Social science 
Gender female
Birth 24 March 1954
Age: 66 years

Ofelia Zepeda (born in Stanfield, Arizona, 1952) is a Tohono O’odham poet and intellectual.

Life

Zepeda is a professor of linguistics at the University of Arizona and is well known for her efforts in the preservation of her native language and promotion literacy in it. She served as director of the American Indian Studies Program at the University of Arizona from 1986 to 1991. She is also known for her work as a consultant and advocate on behalf of a number of American indigenous languages. Her book A Papago Grammar is the standard textbook used to teach the Tohono O’odham language. She was a student of MIT linguistics professor Ken Hale.

Zepeda has worked with her tribe to improve literacy in both English and Tohono O’odham. In 1983 she developed A Papago Grammar from tapes of Native speakers because no textbook existed for the classes she taught. Her work with the reservation committee for Tohono O’odham language policy yielded an official policy that encourages the speaking of the Native language at all grade levels.

In 1999, Zepeda received a MacArthur Fellowship. She is the Poet Laureate of Tucson, Arizona. For several years, she continues to serve as editor for numerous journals and book series.

In 2012, her book was banned by Tucson schools.

Works

  • When It Rains, Papago and Pima Poetry = Mat hekid o ju, ‘O’odham Na-cegitodag (1982)
  • A Papago Grammar (1983)
  • Ocean Power: Poems from the Desert (1995)
  • Home Places: Contemporary Native American Writing from Sun Tracks (1995)
  • Where Clouds Are Formed (2008)
  • Jewed ‘i-Hoi / Riding the Earth (2009)
You May Also Like

Winston Groom’s net worth, biography, fact, career, awards and life story

Winston Groom net worth: Winston Groom was an American novelist and non-fiction author who had a net worth of $10 million at the time of his death. He is best known for writing the book “Forrest Gump”, which was later adapted into a movie. Winston Groom died in September 2020 at the age of 77. Winston Groom was born in Washington, D.C. in March 1943. He graduated from the University of Alabama and then served in the Army during the Vietnam War. After returning, he became a reporter for the Washington Star. He soon began writing novels. During his career Groom authored the novels “Better Times Than These”, “As Summers Die”, “Only”, “Forrest Gump”, “Gone the Sun”, “Gump and Co.”, “Such a Pretty, Pretty Girl”, and “El Paso”. He also authored the non-fiction works “Conversations with the Enemy: the story of P.F.C. Robert Garwood”, “Shrouds of Glory: From Atlanta to Nashville: The Last Great Campaign of the Civil War”, “The Crimson Tide: An Illustrated History of Football at the University of Alabama”, “A Storm in Flanders: The Triumph and Tragedy on the Western Front”, “1942: The Year that Tried Men’s Souls”, “Patriotic Fire: Andrew Jackson and Jean Laffite at the Battle of New Orleans”, “Vicksburg, The Crimson Tide: The Official Illustrated History of Alabama Football”, “National Championship Edition”, “Kearny’s March: The Epic Creation of the American West”, “Ronald Reagan: Our 40th President”, “Shiloh”, “The Aviators: Eddie Rickenbacker, Jimmy Doolittle, Charles Lindbergh, and the Epic Age of Flight”, and “The Generals: Patton, MacArthur, Marshall, and the Winning of World War II”.
Read More