Yolanda Murphy ( Bukowska, April 10, 1925 – June 3, 2016) was a Polish-born American cultural anthropologist who was the co-author of classic anthropology text ''Women of the Forest'' with her husband, Robert F. Murphy. This text was based on field work done in 1952 among the Mundurucu Indians of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil.

Early life and education

Yolanda V. Bukowska was born in

Warsaw, Poland Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-cen ...

on April 10, 1925, the daughter of Walter Bukowski and Clementine Borowski Bukowska. When she was still a young child, she and her widowed mother moved to the United States. Her mother worked as a dress designer in New York City.

Career

The Murphys did extensive field work in Brazil in 1952, in preparation for writing their best-known work, the classic text ''Women of the Forest'' (1974). They also did work in the western United States in the 1950s, among the

Shoshone The Shoshone or Shoshoni ( or ) are a Native American tribe with four large cultural/linguistic divisions: * Eastern Shoshone: Wyoming * Northern Shoshone: southern Idaho * Western Shoshone: Nevada, northern Utah * Goshute: western Utah, easter ...

and

Bannock Bannock may mean: * Bannock (food), a kind of bread, cooked on a stone or griddle * Bannock (Indigenous American), various types of bread, usually prepared by pan-frying * Bannock people, a Native American people of what is now southeastern Oregon ...

peoples, in connection with a land claims case. She taught at

Empire State College Empire State College (SUNY Empire or ESC) is a public university headquartered in Saratoga Springs, New York. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system. Empire State College is a multi-site institution offering associate, ...

(SUNY).

Publications

* ''Shoshone-Bannock Subsistence and Society'' (1960, with Robert F. Murphy) * ''Women of the Forest'' (1974, with Robert F. Murphy) * "Women, work, and property in a South African tribe" (1980, with Robert F. Murphy) * "Physical disability and social liminality: A study in the rituals of adversity" (1988, with Robert F. Murphy, Jessica Scheer, and Richard Mack) * "Women's Day among the Mundurucu" (1993, with Robert F. Murphy)

Personal life

Bukowska met her husband Robert F. Murphy while they were graduate students in at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. They married in 1950, and had two children, Pamela and Robert. Her husband was paralyzed by a spinal tumor in 1975, and he died in 1990; she died in

Medford, Oregon Medford is a city in and the county seat of Jackson County, Oregon, in the United States. As of the 2020 United States Census on April 1, 2020, the city had a total population of 85,824 and a metropolitan area population of 223,259, making the Me ...

on June 3, 2016, at the age of 91.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, Yolanda 1925 births 2016 deaths American anthropologists American expatriates in Brazil Columbia University alumni Empire State College faculty Scientists from New York City