Keith H. Basso

Keith H. Basso

Portrait of American Anthropologist Keith H. Basso (1940–2013). Photo courtesy the Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico.
Born March 15, 1940
Asheville, North Carolina
Died August 4, 2013 (aged 73)
Phoenix, Arizona
Nationality United States
Fields Anthropology, Linguistics, Native American studies, Linguistic anthropology
Institutions University of New Mexico, University of Arizona, Yale University
Alma mater Harvard University (B.A., 1962), Stanford University (Ph.D., 1967)
Thesis Heavy with Hatred: An Ethnographic Study of Western Apache Witchcraft (1967)
Known for Study of language and place names of Western Apache
Notable awards Victor Turner Prize for Ethnographic Writing, 1997
Spouse Gayle Potter-Basso

Keith Hamilton Basso (March 15, 1940 – August 4, 2013) was a cultural and linguistic anthropologist noted for his study of the Western Apaches, specifically those from the community of Cibecue, Arizona. Basso was professor emeritus of anthropology at the University of New Mexico and earlier taught at the University of Arizona and Yale University.[1][2]

After first studying Apache culture in 1959, Basso completed a bachelor's degree at Harvard University (B.A., 1962) and the took the doctorate at Stanford University (Ph.D., 1967).[3] He was the son of novelist Hamilton Basso.

Basso was awarded the Victor Turner Prize for Ethnographic Writing in 1997 for his ethnography, Wisdom Sits in Places: Landscape and Language Among the Western Apache. The work was also the 1996 Western States Book Award Winner in Creative Nonfiction.[4]

Basso died from cancer on August 4, 2013, at the age of 73, in Phoenix, Arizona.[3]

Works

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External links

References

  1. A community of scholars: faculty and members, 1930-1980, Princeton University, Institute of Advanced Studies, 1980
  2. Supplement to Who's who in America 44, Marquis Who's Who, 1987
  3. 3.0 3.1 Cécile R. Ganteaume, "In Memoriam: Keith H. Basso (1940-2013)" National Museum of the American Indian Blog, accessed 10 August 2013
  4. Basso, Keith H (1996). Wisdom Sits in Places: Landscape and Language Among the Western Apache. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press. p. 171. ISBN 0-8263-1723-5.