Keith Hamilton Basso (March 15, 1940 – August 4, 2013) was a

cultural Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...

and

linguistic Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

anthropologist An anthropologist is a scientist engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropologists study aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms, values ...

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 The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

and

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

Early life

On 15 March 1940, Keith was born in Asheville,

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

to Etolia Simmons and Hamilton Basso. His mother, Etolia was a teacher. His father, Hamilton was a novelist, essayist, and editor, notably of

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

. They both had roots in New Orleans. He moved with his parents to

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

when his father took a position as a staff writer for the New Yorker. At Connecticut, he engaged in fly fishing during the day and moved around his father's literary circle in the evenings. Early on, Keith was interested in reading literature and writing. His early inclination to anthropology started with Clyde Kluckhohn's classes at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

where he completed his undergraduate studies in 1962 with magna cum laude honours. During these years, he spent the summer of 1959 in Arizona and began his 'passion for horses, history, and the language and lives of White Mountain Apaches'. He received his PhD in anthropology from

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

in 1967.

Teaching

In 1967, he started teaching at

. Thereafter, in 1982, he moved to

. He joined University of New Mexico (UNM) in 1988, and served as Regents Professor, followed by Distinguished Professor of Anthropology. At UNM, he taught one semester each year and spent the rest of his time living and working on his ranch in Heber-Overgaard, Arizona. He retired at UNM in 2006.

Research and writing

A classic contribution to ethnopoetics and the ethnography of speaking, Basso's 1979 book ''Portraits of the Whiteman'' examines complex cultural and political significance of

joke A joke is a display of humour in which words are used within a specific and well-defined narrative structure to make people laugh and is usually not meant to be interpreted literally. It usually takes the form of a story, often with dialogue, ...

s as a form of verbal art. Basso was awarded the Victor Turner Prize for Ethnographic Writing in 1997 for his

ethnography Ethnography is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. It explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject of the study. Ethnography is also a type of social research that involves examining ...

, ''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. In this ethnography, Basso expressed his hope that anthropologists will spend more time investigating how places and spaces are perceived and experienced; for human relationships to geographical places are rich, deeply felt, and profoundly telling.

Awards

* 2001. SAR J. I. Staley Prize for ''Wisdom Sits in Places'' (1996). * 1997. Victor Turner Prize for Ethnographic Writing for ''Wisdom Sits in Places'' (1996). * 1996. Western States Book Award for Creative Nonfiction for ''Wisdom Sits in Places'' (1996).

Personal life

Basso was married to Gayle Potter. In his 1988 article 'Speaking with Names', he acknowledged her as 'partner in fieldwork as in everything else, whose steady encouragement, graceful acumen, and sheer good sense helped immeasurably in moving things.' Basso died from cancer on August 4, 2013, at the age of 73, in Phoenix, Arizona.Cécile R. Ganteaume,
In Memoriam: Keith H. Basso (1940-2013)
" National Museum of the American Indian Blog, accessed 10 August 2013

Works

Select bibliography

*''Heavy with Hatred: An Ethnographic Study of Western Apache Witchcraft'' (Ph.D. thesis, Stanford University, 1967) *''Western Apache Witchcraft'' (1969) *''The Cibecue Apache'' (1970, 1986) *''Apachean Culture History and Ethnology'', ed. Basso, Keith H, and Opler, Morris E. (1971) * *''Meaning in Anthropology'', ed. Basso, Keith H, and Selby, Henry A. (1976) *''Portraits of 'the Whiteman': Linguistic Play and Cultural Symbols among the Western Apache'' (1979) *''Western Apache Language and Culture: Essays in Linguistic Anthropology'' (1992) *''Wisdom Sits in Places: Landscape and Language among the Western Apache'' (1996) *''Senses of Place'', ed. Keith H. Basso and Steven Feld (1996) *''Don’t Let the Sun Step Over You: A White Mountain Apache Family Life, 1860–1975'' (2004), an oral history with Eva Tulene Watt

External links

Victor Turner Prize for Ethnographic Writing Winners, 1997

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Basso, Keith H. 1940 births 2013 deaths University of New Mexico faculty American cultural anthropologists Anthropological linguists American ethnographers Stanford University alumni Harvard University alumni Linguists of Na-Dene languages University of Arizona faculty Yale University faculty