Ofelia Zepeda is a member of the Tohono O'odham
Nation of Southern Arizona.
She was born and raised in Stanfield, Arizona.
She is a Regents' Professor of Linguistics and recipient
of the MacArthur Fellowship for a work
in American Indian language education, maintenance,
and recovery.
She has published works in the Tohono O'odham language
and in English.
Her books of poetry, "Ocean Power: Poems from the Desert."
And I won't try to pronounce the--
Tohono [? Chul ?] side of this title, it eludes me.
But the translation is Earth Movements.
She's a co-editor of "Home Places," a celebration
of 25 years of publication of the Sun Track series,
and of Home: Native People in the Southwest.
Her poetry is appeared in numerous anthologies
and journals.
Her poems also appear in the permanent exhibit
"Home: Native People in the Southwest" at the Heard Museum
in Phoenix.
Dr. Zepeda is a series editor at the University
of Arizona's press "Sun Tracks," Native American Book series.
Her areas of teaching and research
include introduction to Tohono O'odham language,
the structure of Tohono O'odham issues of language domination
and revitalization, and Native American literature.
She published the first grammar book of the O'odham and Tohono
O'odham grammar.
Her scholarship includes numerous published articles
on the status of American, Native American languages,
language policy and planning, and Native American linguistics
and education.
She is co-founder and director of the American Indian Language
Development Institute, one of the longest running indigenous
language institutes with international reputation
in training educators of American Native American
languages.
Please welcome Ofelia.
[APPLAUSE]