Harry J. Winters, Jr., 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) and Maricopa Place Names (2018). These volumes are used by several Arizona tribal communities as the go-to sources of information about place names in their native languages. Dr. Winters is making all three of these books available for sale through Old Pueblo Archaeology Center to benefit Old Pueblo’s education programs. For an idea of how thorough Dr. Winters’ Place Names books are you can email Old Pueblo at info@oldpueblo.org to request pdf files for each book’s Table of Contents, and see the reviews referenced 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.
In 2020 Dr. Winters published ’O’odham Place Names: Meanings, Origins and Histories, Arizona and Sonora, Second Edition. This new version runs for 1,072 pages not counting front matter. Old Pueblo offers this greatly expanded second edition of ’O’odham Place Names for sale at $175.
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.
For US Postal Service (USPS) shipping via Priority Mail in a medium flat rate box add $18.40 to the purchase price for each book. For shipping via USPS Media Mail add $6.13 per book for Maricopa Place Names, $10.63 per book for ’O’odham Place Names 2012 edition, and $11.38 per book for ’O’odham Place Names 2020 edition. These July 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.
With purchase of either of the ’O’odham Place Names volumes from Old Pueblo Archaeology Center you will receive Dr. Winters’ index for the book in pdf format. Proceeds from sales of all three of Dr. Winters’ books benefit Old Pueblo’s education programs.
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.)
- To pay using PayPal, please go to the www.oldpueblo.org home page, scroll down to the “Donate” section, click on the “Donate” button above the PayPal logo, and follow the prompts. Be sure to indicate what your payment is for before you submit the payment.
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