Harry J. Winters, Jr., PhD, who has conducted extensive research among the Akimel ‘O’Odham (Pima), Tohono ‘O’odham (Papago), and Maricopa (Piipaash) communities for years, is author of the books ‘O’odham Place Names: Meanings, Origins, and Histories Arizona and Sonora (2012 and enlarged 2020 editions), Maricopa Place Names (2018), and ‘O’odham Course Notes: First through Fourth Semesters (2024). These volumes are useful for several Arizona Tribal communities as the go-to sources of information about their native place names and languages. Dr. Winters has made his books available for sale through Old Pueblo Archaeology Center to benefit Old Pueblo’s education programs (see https://www.oldpueblo.org/programs/educational-programs/). For an idea of how thorough Dr. Winters’ Place Names books are, you can email Old Pueblo at info@oldpueblo.org to request the pdf files described below.
The original version of ‘O’odham Place Names: Meanings, Origins, and Histories Arizona and Sonora, published in 2012, runs for 741 pages not counting the front matter pages (title page, table of contents, figures list, preface, pronunciation guide, etc.). The late Dr. Bernard L. Fontana, well-known Tohono O’odham ethnohistorian, wrote “This encyclopedia of O’odham place names in southern Arizona and northern Sonora is majesterial in scope, a labor of love by a man who spent more than five decades with O’odham friends learning their language and extracting from them their knowledge of native place names for settlements and geographic features. It is safe to assert that no other Indian reservation in the United States has had its native place names this thoroughly documented. It is a study in O’odham linguistics, history, and folk lore, one sure to be deeply appreciated by future generations of O’odham as well as by scholars of O’odham culture.”
The 2012 edition of ’O’odham Place Names originally sold for $179 but Old Pueblo Archaeology Center offers it for just $120. With purchase of this book from Old Pueblo Archaeology Center you also will receive the following pdf files:
• The 2012 ‘O’odham Place Names book’s table of contents.
• An index that is not included in the printed book.
• A map made by Luke Air Force Base/Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Range technician Christian Black that shows the locations of places listed in the out-of-print 2020 edition of ‘O’odham Place Names (described below) that are west of about 111°52′32″W (i.e., approximately west of the longitude of Sells, Arizona).
• Dr. Winters’s “Intro to OPN Place Names Map by Black” history of the map.
In 2020 Dr. Winters published ’O’odham Place Names: Meanings, Origins and Histories, Arizona and Sonora, Second Edition. This second edition ran for 1,072 pages not counting front matter and was offered for sale at $175 by Old Pueblo, but went out of print in 2024. Dr. Winters is looking into ways to republish the 2020 edition without having to raise the price per copy significantly, but as yet has not made a decision about reprinting it.
The Maricopa Place Names volume lists and describes names used by the Piipaash (Maricopa) and Halychduum (Halchidhoma) peoples for places along the Middle and Lower Gila River, the Colorado River segment dividing Arizona from California, and some areas north of the Salt River, west of Hassayampa Creek, in the Santa Catalina Mountains, and in Sonora and Baja California. Published in 2018, this volume includes 154 pages not counting the front matter. Old Pueblo offers Maricopa Place Names for sale at just $120. With purchase of this book from Old Pueblo Archaeology Center you also will receive pdf files for its table of contents and some sample pages from the book.
In 2024, Dr. Winters published ‘O’odham Course Notes: First through Fourth Semesters, which includes 93 sets of notes for a two-year conversational ‘O’odham language course. Its objective is to help the student acquire a speaking ability as fast as possible. It is written in an alphabet that comes as close as possible to what someone who has learned to read English in American schools would expect. The emphasis is heavily on conversation. The student is not burdened with rules of grammar, but elements of syntax and morphology are brought out to aid students in building their own words and sentences. It is intended that the student will be taught by a fluent speaker and will have opportunities to practice with such speakers. Dr. Winters began learning the ‘O’odham language at the age of 17 at Koahadk village in the Sif Oidak District of the Tohono O’odham Nation in 1957. With the exception of 33 months of active duty in the U.S. Army, he has spoken the language almost every week since then. Dr. Winters has had friends in all eleven districts of the Nation where he often has been treated as a relative, as well as a number of friends in the Gila River Indian Community. Preservation of the ‘O’odham language and way of life is one of the most important goals of his life. If the language is not preserved, the way of life will disappear. Illustrations below show the ‘O’odham Course Notes book’s full Table of Contents listing. Old Pueblo Archaeology Center offers this 320-page. 8½ x 11-inch spiralbound book for $125.00.
For US Postal Service (USPS) shipping via Priority Mail in a medium flat rate box add $19.30 to the purchase price for each book. For shipping via USPS Media Mail add $6.13 per book for Maricopa Place Names and for ‘O’odham Course Notes, and $10.63 per book for ’O’odham Place Names 2012 edition. These November 2024-updated shipping prices are subject to change whenever USPS rates change. To avoid shipping charges any of these books can be picked up BY APPOINTMENT ONLY at Old Pueblo Archaeology Center, 2201 W. 44th St., Tucson.
You can order any of these books using one of the following methods:
- For payment by mail please make your check or money order payable to Old Pueblo Archaeology Center or simply OPAC, and include a printed explanation of what your payment is for. Mail payment and information to Old Pueblo Archaeology Center, PO Box 40577, Tucson AZ 85717. (Mail sent to Old Pueblo’s street address gets returned to senders because there is no mailbox at our street address.)
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