Luci Tapahonso

Rebecca Tillett (University of East Anglia)

Ed. by Emory Elliott, University of California, Riverside
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.6: Indigenous Writing and Culture of North America - United States.
Vol. editors: Joshua Bartlett (High Point University), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Sarah Henzi (Simon Fraser University), Padraig Kirwan (Goldsmiths College, University of London), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University)

Dates

Born 8 Nov 1953
Activity 1981-ongoing

Places

Born in United States
Active in United States

Cultural Identities

First Nations/Indigenous US-American

Activities

Primary

Autobiographer
Poet
Story-writer

Resources

Tapahonso's Works

Save to Bookshelf

Born on 8 November 1953 to Lucille Deschenne Tapahonso (Salt Water clan) and Eugene Tapahonso Sr. (Bitter Water clan), Luci Tapahonso is widely considered to be one of the foremost and most influential contemporary Diné (Navajo) poets and storytellers. The middle child of eleven, Tapahonso was born in Shiprock, New Mexico, and raised on the largest reservation in the United States: the Navajo homeland of Dinétah, which straddles the states of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah.

In these traditional Navajo surroundings, Tapahonso learnt English as a second spoken language after her native tongue, Diné (Navajo). Her initial education, at the Navajo Methodist Mission Boarding School in Farmington, New Mexico, ensured that English would be her first written language. Tapahonso

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703 words

Citation: Tillett, Rebecca. "Luci Tapahonso". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 01 August 2001 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=4312, accessed 23 November 2024.]

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