"The ancient ones taught us that the life of the Tree is the life of the people. ... the day would come when the people would awaken, as if from a long, drugged sleep; that they would begin, timidly at first but then with great urgency, to search again for the Sacred Tree." –from the book, The Sacred Tree

Phillip H. Duran

Phillip H. Duran (Tigua Indian tribe) married Norma Diaz of Las Cruces, NM in 1962. He earned B.S. and M.S. degrees at the University of Texas at El Paso, where he conducted physics research, developed computer software, and taught courses in physics, mathematics, numerical methods by computer, and computer assembler language. In 1971, he and Norma moved with their three children to the Pacific Northwest for him to study at Washington State University. There he earned another M.S. degree (in computer science) and became a candidate for the Ph.D. degree with considerable coursework in numerical analysis and theoretical physics. At WSU he later held a lengthy appointment in Information Technology and became industry-certified in computer Disaster Recovery Planning.

Phil and Norma currently reside in Rio Rancho, NM. He is an independent author, lecturer, consultant, and former vice president of the board of directors of Hamaatsa, a Native non-profit organization. To see his full vitae, including publications, click here.

He served as faculty advisor to the student chapter of the American Science and Engineering Society (AISES), was known on campus and the community for screening video documentaries on indigenous peoples. He and his wife were also deeply involved with the Chicano(a)/Latino(a) community. He and his wife were also campus activists working diligently on crucial issues for Chicano, Native American, and African American students and faculty, becoming the recipients of several awards of recognition.

During his time at WSU, he was influenced by the late Ricardo Sánchez, Ph.D., a full professor, activist, and Chicano poet of renown, with whom Duran performed in numerous public poetry readings. Duran's poetry and other works have been published in various journals, some appearing in different languages, and in a Chicano poetic anthology, Vasos Comunicantes: Antología de Poesía Chicana, J. Rosa, ed. (Huerga & Fierro: España, 1999). His poems, columns, and essays have appeared in RiverSedge (UT-Pan American); Poetry: An American Heritage (Western Poetry Association); Poetic Voices of America, A Break in the Clouds (National Library of Poetry), Paterson Literary Review (Passaic County Community College, New Jersey), La Voz (Council for the Spanish-Speaking, Seattle, WA), Shades of Crimson (Washington State University), SA: An Opinionated Journal of Opinionated Essays, Rio Grande Review (The University of Texas at El Paso), Revista Apple, WSU Week (WSU), Beaver Tail Journal, Ethnies (poem translated into French in Survival International Annual Review, 1998); Ricardo Sánchez archival video; foreword to the book Codex Tamuanchan: on Becoming Human by Roberto Rodríguez. Public presentations include conferences, workshops, coffeehouse poetry reading sessions, television, and keynote address at the 2011 World Indigenous Peoples Conference on Education (WIPCE) in Cusco, Peru.

In 1998 he and his wife moved to South Dakota to serve as director of First Nations Institute, a new post-secondary school for American Indian students, where he also taught seminars on the American Indian Christian experience.

In 2000 he joined the faculty of Northwest Indian College as director of the Tribal Environmental and Natural Resource Management academic degree program (TENRM) in the Division of Science and Mathematics, where he also taught physics and American Indian history. He also served as dean of the Division and retired in 2003.

His book, Bringing Back the Spirit, published in 2005, may be purchased from Amazon.  

To read a narrative version of his story, click here.