Evangeline Parsons Yazzie
Evangeline Parsons Yazzie (c. 1952 – May 22, 2022) was a Navajo educator and author of the first textbook adopted by the U.S. public education system to teach the Navajo language.
Life
Yazzie received a Master of Arts degree in Bilingual Multicultural Education and a Doctorate in Education from Northern Arizona University (NAU) where she taught Navajo language courses for 24 years until 2014. In 2007, Yazzie co-authored a textbook for teaching the Navajo language titled Diné Bizaad Bínáhooʼaah: Rediscovering the Navajo Language along with Margaret Speas, a professor of linguistics at the University of Massachusetts.[1][2] In 2008, New Mexico adopted the textbook making itself the first U.S. state to officially use any text for teaching the Navajo language in its public school system.[3]
Following her retirement in 2014, Yazzie authored several novels about a fictional family's experience of the Long Walk of the Navajo.[4][5] Yazzie died on May 22, 2022, at age 69.[6]
Bibliography
Non-Fiction
- Diné Bizaad Bínáhooʼaah : Rediscovering The Navajo Language (2007), ISBN 9781893354739, OCLC 156845819.
- Diné Bizaad Bínáhooʼaah Audio Set 1 ISBN 9781893354760
- A Study for Reasons for Navajo Language Attrition as Perceived by Navajo Speaking Parents (1995), OCLC 77536872.
Her Land, Her Love series
A fictional account of the Long Walk of the Navajo.
- Her Land, Her Love : Nínááníbaaʼ : the woman warrior who came home once again (2014), ISBN 9781893354968, OCLC 879377793
- Her Enemy Her Love : Dééd Yázhi : Little Girl Warrior Who Came Home (2016), ISBN 9781893354289, OCLC 927119745
- Her Captive Her Love : Dzánibaʼ : Young woman warrior (2018), ISBN 9781893354289, OCLC 927119745
- Their Land, Their Love : The Return Home (2019), ISBN 9781893354326, OCLC 1078778700
Other Fiction
- Dzání Yázhí Naazbaaʼ : Little Woman Warrior Who Came Home : a story of the Navajo Long Walk (2005), ISBN 9781893354555, OCLC 57201776
References
- ^ Parsons-Yazzie, Evangeline; Speas, Margaret (2007). Diné Bizaad Bínáhooʼaah: Rediscovering the Navajo Language. Flagstaff, Arizona: Salina Bookshelf. OCLC 156845819.
- ^ "New Mexico first state to adopt Navajo textbook". NBC News. July 31, 2008. Archived from the original on February 26, 2021. Retrieved January 25, 2003.
- ^ Yerian, Loretta (April 1, 2014). "Local author takes new look at the Navajo Long Walk". Navajo-Hopi Observer. Archived from the original on January 25, 2023. Retrieved January 25, 2023.
- ^ Allen, Krista (December 19, 2018). "Beloved Navajo author receives warm welcome at Page book signing". Lake Powell Chronicle. Archived from the original on February 5, 2019. Retrieved January 25, 2023.
- ^ "Diné author and scholar Dr. Evangeline Parsons Yazzie passes away at 69". Navajo-Hopi Observer. May 31, 2022. Archived from the original on May 31, 2022. Retrieved January 25, 2023.