This T-aiku Tu Libru | Tiwa Language Book was put out by the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo of El Paso. I worked closely with tribal elders and an anthropological linguist from UCLA, Dr. Erin Debenport, to develop for the first time a document that formalizes and standardizes the spelling of the Southern Tigua language from its oral tradition into writing.
The first edition features animals and insects. I was more than honored to lend my art direction and design to this landmark teaching tool which takes the form of an easel binder. A second edition includes the vocabulary categories of greetings, colors, places, and traditional objects & clothing, along with a sturdy bookshelf folder to hold overflow pages from the binder for future editions.
Its intended audience is adults and the very young children in tribal daycares, pre-schools and kindergartens with the goal of introducing them to the words of their ancestors and keeping the Tigua language alive. Thanks to Christopher Villa at Helix Solutions who invited me to this project.
