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]

References

  1. ↑ "Navajo professor writes textbook to help save her Native language". NAU News. August 27, 2008. Archived from the original on December 2, 2017. Retrieved January 25, 2023.
  2. ↑ Parsons-Yazzie, Evangeline; Speas, Margaret (2007). Diné Bizaad Bínáhooʼaah: Rediscovering the Navajo Language. Flagstaff, Arizona: Salina Bookshelf. OCLC 156845819.
  3. ↑ "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.
  4. ↑ 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.
  5. ↑ 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.
  6. ↑ "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.


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