Native Voices symposium a three-day gathering (fwd)

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Native Voices symposium a three-day gathering
Indian authors will focus on language, poetry

By Gerald M. Gay
arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 06.01.2007
http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/185380

As a child growing up on the Navajo Reservation, Laura Tohe fueled her
creativity with piles of fairy-tale books checked out from the public
library in nearby Gallup, N.M..

And while evil witches and Prince Charmings kept her busy in a home with no
television, newspaper or phone service, she always felt more inspired by
the physical trips taken to get the books rather than the books themselves.

"My mother would tell us stories driving to the shops in town," Tohe said.
"She would tell us creation stories, stories about our family and stories
that her grandmother told her when she was young."

Those childhood yarns set Tohe on a path that eventually led to a doctorate
in English from the University of Nebraska, an associate professor position
at Arizona State University and several published works that Tohe says lend
themselves back to the cultural and familial stories she used to listen to
as a kid.

Her accomplishments as an American Indian writer and poet have earned her a
spot at the inaugural Native Voices: Indigenous Language and Poetry
Symposium June 14-16 at the University of Arizona, a first-of-its-kind
event co-sponsored by the University of Arizona Poetry Center and the
annual American Indian Language Development Institute.

The three-day gathering — running concurrently with the month-long institute
— will feature lectures and workshop sessions led by prominent Indian poets
and writers from across the continental United States and beyond.

Wordsmiths slated to participate include Diné (Navajo) writer Sherwin
Bitsui, a Tucson resident whose poetry recently earned him a $40,000 prize
from the 2006 Whiting Writers' Awards, and Tlingit linguist Nora Marks
Dauenhauer of Alaska.

Frances Sjoberg, literary director for the poetry center, said a symposium
like this has been an idea two years in the making.

"We started out with five writers in mind and eventually ended up with 11,"
she said. "Here in Southern Arizona we have such a rich community of
indigenous writers. We tried to create a mix of poets. Some write in
indigenous languages like Rex Lee Jim. We have poets who incorporate their
own language into English and we have diversity in both theme and tribal
affiliation. It was hard to choose. There are so many incredible native
writers."

Once selected, each poet was asked to host breakout sessions, in which
interested students can learn and converse with them, using specific
themes. Ofelia Zepeda, a symposium speaker, co-founder of the institute and
member of the Tohono O'odham Nation, said the writers could choose any topic
they wanted but were asked to think about the overall language theme of the
institute.

Zepeda is a UA linguistics professor who has made great strides in
revitalizing the language for the Tohono O'odham people. She said language
has become the primary focus of the institute in recent years because of
the rapid decline of American Indian families speaking their native
languages in the home.

Her symposium workshop "O'odham Doesn't Rhyme, but It Has Meter: Writing
Poetry in an American Indian Language" will incorporate her love for the
O'odham language and her knowledge of the written word.

"Twenty years ago in the Southwest we didn't have the problem with language
loss that we do now," Zepeda said. "The greatest challenge has always been
having people understand the significance of language lost. I'd like to
think people who come to the symposium would come away with an appreciation
for the vitality of language as a creative medium."

Diné (Navajo) poet Luci Tapahonso will host the workshop "The Sestina and
Saad: Fixed Forms and Diné Literary Traditions," that will focus on what
Tapahonso considers her speciality: merging traditional themes and the
Navajo language with classic forms like the sonnet.

Tapahonso, 53, says symposiums like these are a fantastic opportunity and
something she never had the chance to experience when she was young.

Tapahonso grew up on the Navajo Reservation and attended a Methodist Mission
boarding school, where speaking in her native language was strictly
forbidden.

"I was very quiet in elementary school," Tapahonso said, "but not because I
was shy. I was quiet because I didn't know enough English to have a
conversation with anyone. I think in many ways a symposium like this is a
celebration, and in other ways it is an acknowledgment of some of the
experiences that people have had that aren't so positive."

● Contact reporter Gerald M. Gay at 573-4137 or ggay at azstarnet.com.