VI PUBLICATIONS of Gary Witherspoon
Books
1995Dynamic Symmetry and Holistic Asymmetry in Navajo and Western Art and Cosmology, co-authored with Glen Peterson, Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., New York, N.Y. (April, 1995)
1987Navajo Weaving: Art in its Cultural Context. The Museum of Northern Arizona: Flagstaff, Arizona.
1985Diné Bizaad Bóhoo’aah I. The Navajo Language Institute: Farmington, New Mexico.
1977Language and Art in the Navajo Universe. University of Michigan Press: Ann Arbor, Michigan.
1975Navajo Kinship and Marriage. University of Chicago Press: Chicago, Illinois
1969Navajo Basic Course. Co-authored with Robert Blair and Leon Simmons. (This is a programmed guide for teaching coversational Navajo). Brigham Young University Press: Provo, Utah
1968Black Mountain Boy. Co-authored with Veda Carlson. (This is a book for intermediate level children). Navajo Curriculum Center: Rough Rock, Arizona.
Articles
2005
Emergence Narratives is a chapter in American Indian Religious Traditions, edited by Suzanne Crawford and Dennis Kelly.
2001“Sheep in Navajo Culture and Social Organization” was selected to be in the centennial version of the American Anthropologist as an example of the best articles in the field of anthropology in the last quarter of the 20th century.
1995“Word in the Navajo Universe” is the lead chapter in The Word: Studies in the Language of Religion and the Religious Meaning of Language, The University of Arizona Press.
1994“Cultural Motifs in Navajo Weaving” in North American Indian Anthropology, Ray DeMallie and Alfonso Ortiz, eds. University of Oklahoma Press.
1992“Navajo Semiotical Geometry” in Art in Small Scale Scieties.Richard Anderson and Karen Field, eds. Prentice-Hall.
1986“Art in the Navajo Universe”. Journal of Navajo Studies. The Navajo Community College: Tsaile, Arizona
1983a“Navajo Social Organization.” Handbook of North American Indians, Vol. 10:524-535. Smithsonian Institute.
1983b“Language and Reality in Navajo World View.” Handbook of North American Indians, Vol. 10:570-578. Smithsonian Institute.
1981“Relativism in Ethnographic Theory and Practice.” A chapter in The Scientist and the Irrational, Hans Peter Duerr, ed., Published in German by the Peter DeRidder Press: The Netherlands.
1981“Silver and Turquoise in the Navajo Universe.” The Fred Harvey Collection of Silverwork, Heard Museum Publications: Phoenix, Arizona.
1980a“Self-expression and Self-esteem in Navajo Weaving.” Plateau: Journal of the Museum of Northern Arizona, 52:28-33.
1980b“Beautifying the World through Art.” Suntracts: Journal of American Indian Art and Literature. This article has been reprinted in the following two books: North American Indian Artand Literature, University of Arizona Press; and Essays on North American IndianArt, Peek Publications: New York.
1980c“Language in Culture and Culture in Language.” International Journal of American Linguistics, 46:1-14.
1978“Language and Art in the Navajo Universe.” LSA Magazine, Vol. I No. 4, pp. 10-11, 18-20.
1977“Are Universal Theoretical Models Possible?” Michigan Discussions in Anthropology 2:29-45.
1976“Kinship and Human Procreative Processes.” Michigan Discussions in Anthropology 2:253-45.
1975a“The Central Concepts in Navajo World View (II),” Linguistics: An International Review 161:69-88.
1975b“Navajo K’é Terminology.” Navajo Language Review 2:1-27.
1974a“The Central Concepts in Navajo World View (I).” Linguistics: An International Review (January). Reprinted in Festschirft for Carl Voegelin. Peter DeRidder Press: The Netherlands.
1974b“Henry Chee Dodge.” A biography for the American Dictionary of Biography.
1973“Sheep in Navajo Culture and Social Organization.” American Anthropologist 75:1441-1448.
1971“Navajo Categories of Objects at Rest.” American Anthropologist 73:110-125. (This article has been reprinted in Symbolic Anthropology: A Reader in the Study of Symbols and Meanings, Columbia University Press [1977])
1970a“The Role of the Social Scientist in Indian Affairs.” Journal of American Indian Affairs (Fall) 1:18-23.
1970b“A New Look at Navajo Social Organization.” American Anthropologist 72:55-65.
1968“The Navajo Curriculum Center.” Journal of American Indian Education (Spring).
1967“A Knowledgeable and Interested Community” (Chapter 15) and “The First Six Months of Decisions and Activity” (Chapter 16) in Navajo Education at Rough Rock.
Films Produced:
2005 Sense and Essense: Four Views. This is a 30 minute video of an
art exhibit by the same name at the Beasely Fine Arts Gallery, Northern Arizona University. This video is being used in classes at UW and at Yavapai College
2004 Dine Weaving This is a 40 minute broadcast quality DVD used in several schools and universities regarding. It was in the Stars in the Desert Film Festival in 2004 and is in the Heard Museum Film Festival in 2005.
2004 The Mounain Creation Song (This is an animated version of the mountain creation song recorded by me in 1969, but the visual animation has just been added to it. I have not released it to general public use yet because it is a ceremonial song and I want to make sure some Navajos do not find it objectionable. I have sent it to family members of the person who sang if for me when it was recorded. This person is no longer alive. The family has been very supportive of the idea and the animated presentation. They are using it to teach the song to their children. I have used it in my classes at UW.)
2002 Emergence (this video is used in instruction in Indian Studies in my classes at the UW, in classes at Dine College and at the University of Arizona
1987The Children of Changing Woman. Produced by David Baxter the Museum of Northern Arizona.
1983 Seasons of a Navajo Family. Produced by Peace River films for KAET TV, Phoenix, Arizona.
1972 Navajo Girl produced with Robert Young for the Zerox Corporation’s secondary curriculum project.
1970The Long Walk of the Navajo for Education. Produced by KQED educational TV, San Francisco, California.
Public Lectures
1995 Understanding Indigenous Stories of Genesis. Colgate University
1992 “Athabaskan Aesthetics” Lecture at Institute of American Indian Art, Sante Fe, NM
1977“Anthropology: An Interpretive Art or a Hard Science?” A series of six public lectures delivered at the Rackham Auditorium, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Book Reviews
2003 A Place to be Navajo by Teresa McCarty for the Southwest Journal of Anthropology.
1992 The Nightway by James Faris for the American Anthropologist
1980Art in Society: Studies in Style, Culture, and Aesthetics. Micahel Greehaigh and Vincent McGraw, eds. for the American Ethnologist (December).
1971Blessingway by Leland Wyman in the American Anthropologist.
Film Reviews
1973The Navajos: Fight for Survival. A BBC Production. Reviewed for the American Anthropologist.
Research Reports
1986"The Navajo Area Dropout Study", co-authored with Paul Platero and Betsy Brandt. Conducted for the Navajo Division of Education, Navajo Nation, Window Rock, Arizona.
1988"Land and Livestock in Navajo Society and Culture", for the United States District Court for Arizona in regards to the law suit of the Hopi Tribe against the Navajo Tribe regarding the 1934 Reservation boundaries.