Ofelia Zepeda

Ofelia Zepeda Poems

Question: Can you tell us about what he is wearing?
Well, the hooves represent the deer's hooves,
the red scarf represents the flowers from which he ate,
...

She always got mad at him
every time he came home in the middle of the morning
with his pant legs wet.
...

Every day it is the same.
He comes home.
He tells her about it.
...

Cuk Son is a story.
Tucson is a linguistic alternative.
The story is in the many languages
still heard in this place of
Black Mountains.
...

The scent of burning wood holds
the strongest memory.
Mesquite, cedar, piñon, juniper,
...

She said she felt the earth move again.
I never knew whether she meant she felt a tremor
or whether it was the rotation of the earth.
...

Food is put in place for the ancestors.
Prayer sticks are buried for the saguaro, for the season, for the earth.
Songs are sung for the spiritual health of everyone, everything.
...

Someone said it is going to rain.
I think it is not so.
Because I have not yet felt the earth and the way it holds still
...

Ñ-ku'ibadkaj ‘ant ‘an ols g cewagi.
With my harvesting stick I will hook the clouds.
‘Ant o'i-waññ'io k o ‘i-hudiñ g cewagi.
...

E-atki ‘ep ‘ai mat o ‘e-keihi go'odham
o ‘e-keihi kut hab masma ab o ‘i ha-miabi g ju:ki
‘apt ge cuhug oidk o ka:d mat hab o kaijjid:
...

We travel carrying our words.
We arrive at the ocean.
With our words we are able to speak
...

The sun has moved over that way a bit.
Here come the clouds.
They are so very white,
...

I am ready.
My bundle, my power bundle,
hidden, but present.
...

Ofelia Zepeda Biography

Ofelia Zepeda (born in Stanfield, Arizona, 1952) is a Tohono O'odham poet and intellectual. Zepeda is a professor of linguistics at the University of Arizona and is well known for her efforts in the preservation of her native language and promotion literacy in it. She is the former director of the American Indian Studies Program at the University of Arizona. She is also known for her work as a consultant and advocate on behalf of a number of American indigenous languages. Her book A Papago Grammar is the standard textbook used to teach the Tohono O'odham language. She was a student of MIT linguistics professor Ken Hale. Zepeda has worked with her tribe to improve literacy in both English and Tohono O'odham. In 1983 she developed A Papago Grammar from tapes of Native speakers because no textbook existed for the classes she taught. Her work with the reservation committee for Tohono O'odham language policy yielded an official policy that encourages the speaking of the Native language at all grade levels. In 1999, Zepeda received a MacArthur Fellowship. She is the Poet Laureate of Tucson, Arizona. For several years, she continues to serve as editor for numerous journals and book series. In 2012, her book was banned by Tucson schools.)

The Best Poem Of Ofelia Zepeda

Deer Dance Exhibition

Question: Can you tell us about what he is wearing?
Well, the hooves represent the deer's hooves,
the red scarf represents the flowers from which he ate,
the shawl is for skin.
The cocoons make the sound of the deer walking on leaves and grass.
Listen.
Question: What is that he is beating on?
It's a gourd drum. The drum represents the heartbeat of the deer.
Listen.
When the drum beats, it brings the deer to life.
We believe the water the drum sits in is holy. It is life.
Go ahead, touch it.
Bless yourself with it.
It is holy. You are safe now.
Question: How does the boy become a dancer?
He just knows. His mother said he had dreams when he was just a little boy.
You know how that happens. He just had it in him.
Then he started working with older men who taught him how to dance.
He has made many sacrifices for his dancing even for just a young boy.
The people concur, "Yes, you can see it in his face."
Question: What do they do with the money we throw them?
Oh, they just split it among the singers and dancer.
They will probably take the boy to McDonald's for a burger and fries.
The men will probably have a cold one.
It's hot today, you know.

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