Silvester John Brito (September 26, 1937 - October 7, 2018) was an American poet and academic. He was an associate professor of anthropology and folklore at the

University of Wyoming The University of Wyoming (UW) is a public land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, and opened in September 1887. The University of Wyoming ...

Early life and education

Brito was born September 26, 1937, in

Delta, Colorado Delta is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Delta County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 9,035 at the 2020 United States Census. The United States Forest Service headquarter ...

. He was of

Comanche The Comanche or Nʉmʉnʉʉ ( com, Nʉmʉnʉʉ, "the people") are a Native American tribe from the Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the federally recognized Comanche Nation, headquartered in La ...

and

Purépecha The Purépecha (endonym pua, P'urhepecha ) are a group of indigenous people centered in the northwestern region of Michoacán, Mexico, mainly in the area of the cities of Cherán and Pátzcuaro. They are also known by the pejorative "Tarascan ...

descent. Brito completed a Ph.D. in Folklore at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...

.Author biography from

Career

Brito was an associate professor for the

, teaching anthropology, American folklore studies, Chicano, and religious studies. Brito was a member of M.E.C.h.A. and Keepers of the Fire.Laramie Boomerang Obituary, October 11, 2018
Brito published several books of poetry, ''Man From a Rainbow, Looking Through A Squared Off Circle'', and ''Red Cedar Warrior'', and an ethnography, ''The Way of A Peyote Roadman''.Reviews of ''The Way of a Peyote Roadman'': * * * His poetry has appeared in CALLALOO (a creative writing publishing forum at the Texas A&M University in College Station), in the American Indian anthology, Studies In American Indian Literature: Returning The Gift (University of Arizona Press), and in The Blue Cloud Quarterly Vol. 28, No. 4 .

Personal life

Brito was married to Carol (Coble) Brito for 56 years and had four children: Desiree, Michael, Juan and Jude. His parents Benjamin and Jessie Brito predeceased him. Brito died October 7, 2018, in

Cheyenne, Wyoming Cheyenne ( or ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Wyoming, as well as the county seat of Laramie County, with 65,132 residents, per the 2020 US Census. It is the principal city of the Cheyenne metropolitan statistical ...

References

External links

* 1937 births 2018 deaths American writers of Mexican descent American people of Comanche descent American people of Purépecha descent People from Delta, Colorado Indiana University alumni University of Wyoming faculty 20th-century American male writers {{NorthAm-native-bio-stub