Faye Elva Edgerton

Faye was born on a farm near Hastings, Nebraska. In 1918, she applied for a passport, stating that she was going to Korea to do missionary work. She returned in 1922.

Faye was a missionary to the Navajo Indians in New Mexico and Arizona for 43 years. She translated the Bible into Navajo and Apache languages.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faye_Edgerton

Faye Edgerton Faye Elva Edgerton (Navajo: translated as:"The One Who Understands.") (26 March 1889- 4 March 1968) was a missionary, linguist and Bible translator with Wycliffe Bible Translators. She translated the New Testament into the Navajo and Apache languages, as well as helping some with the Hopi and the Inupiat/Eskimo New Testaments.

Faye Elva Edgerton Born 26 March 1889 Little Blue Township, Adams County, Nebraska Died 4 March 1968 Farmington, New Mexico Occupation Bible translator Contents

Early life and education Korea Navajo New Testament Apache New Testament Bibliography References External links Edgerton was born in Nebraska, she became a Christian when she was 10 years old. After graduating from high school she went to Chicago to study music. She became very sick there with Scarlet fever, and went deaf. She recovered, however, and regained her hearing. After that incident she attended and graduated from Moody Bible Institute. Linguistic training began in 1943 with the Summer Institute of Linguistics taught by Drs. Kenneth L. Pike and Eugene A. Nida. Eugene Nida personally mentored Edgerton in her early linguistic inquiries.[1] She continued with full-time field work and intensive summer studies with other linguists. In 1958 she participated in a seminar on the Athapaskan languages of North America held in Norman, OK under Dr. Harry Hoijer. The following year she prepared for publication her findings on the sentence structure in Western Apache. In 1964 she also participated in a translation workshop in Ixmiquilpan, Mexico. with Dr. Robert Longacre.[2]

Korea

In 1918 Edgerton set out for Korea, with the American Presbyterian Mission. During her voyage across the Pacific she studied Korean, and by the time she arrived she could read it well. She worked in Chungju, Korea.[3] During the first winter she got severe sinusitis, in the spring of 1919 the terror and violence of the Samil Movement had a toll on her nerves. Edgerton received a lot of encouragement from fellow workers, especially Gerda Bergman, and kept on going. In 1920 she was assigned to her permanent station. By the end of 1922, however, she had to return to America for treatment of a worsening sinus problem. Health would never permit her to return to Korea.

Navajo New Testament

After she arrived back in the United States she spent some time with her father, who was dying. Her father died in December 1923. The Presbyterian board in early 1924 assigned Edgerton to work at a school in Ganado, Arizona, on a Navajo reservation. It was believed that the climate would help her sinus problem, because of her frail health she also wasn't permitted to go far from medical aid, and so Korea wasn't an option.

At the school she noticed that kids weren't allowed to speak Navajo, except for a short time after supper. She learned Navajo however, and increasingly became aware that the Navajo people needed the Bible in their own language. After taking a course at the Summer Institute of Linguistics, she became convinced she could do the work and that God wanted her to.

In 1944 she decided to leave the Presbyterian mission and joined Wycliffe Bible Translators. She and Geronimo Martin revised older translations of Luke, Romans, First Corinthians, Revelation, and Mark and completed the New Testament. It was published in 1956 by the American Bible Society.

It is the largest piece of Navajo literature, and became an instant bestseller among the tribe. This work also resulted in a revival of the Navajo language, that many had previously sought to extinguish.[4]

Apache New Testament

After translating the Navajo New Testament, Edgerton learned Apache, and together with Faith Hill translated the New Testament into the Apache language. The Apache New Testament was presented to President Johnson in 1966.[5]

Manuscripts and translation notes are held at Northern Arizona University.[6] She also helped some with the Hopi and the Inupiat/Eskimo New Testaments.

Bibliography

Ethel Emily Wallis, God Speaks Navajo: The Moving Story of Faye Edgerton, New York: Harper & Row Publishers (1968) Faye Edgerton, "Relative frequency of direct discourse and indirect discourse in Sierra Chontal and Navajo Mark." (1964) Faye Edgerton, "The tagmemic analysis of sentence structure in Western Apache." (1963) Faye Edgerton, "Some translation problems in Navaho." (1962) References

Ethel Emily Wallis, God Speaks Navajo, (New York:Harper & Row, 1968)p. 76.

Wallis, p. 126 & 129.

Reports of the Boards, by Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. General Assembly, pg. 158 (Online at: https://books.google.com/books?id=1MIQAAAAIAAJ) --Is this the same, just a newer name as Syen Chun, where Wallis says that in 1920 she finally could settle?

Wallis, p. 116-121.

Bible Translation Day Archived 2008-07-24 at the Wayback Machine

NAU manuscript collection #157 External links

Christian History Institute Short Biography

Bible Translation Day: https://web.archive.org/web/20080724174342/http://www.wycliffe.org/...

In 1966 the United States Senate passed a resolution requesting President Johnson to proclaim September 30 as Bible Translation Day. A ceremony was held on that date in the new Senate Office Building in Washington with Senator Fred Harris of Oklahoma presiding. bt day_handshake.jpg

The highlight of the ceremony was the presentation of the recently published Apache New Testament to Senator Harris and Congressman Ben Reifel of South Dakota. The presentation was made by Mr. Brittain Goode, the Apache who helped Misses Faye Edgerton and Faith Hill with the translation. Speakers included William Cameron Townsend (founder and director of Wycliffe Bible Translators), Congressman Reifel, and Miss Edgerton.

bt day_presentation.jpg"We are making history. By God's grace and with His help, we are taking part in a tremendous enterprise. The enterprise is Bible translation; the goal is hearts changed by God and disciples equipped to lead others to Christ. But before any translation can be done, before any change comes in a heart, we must overcome physical and language barriers.

"The language barrier is difficult to overcome. But it must be done. The Holy Spirit, speaking through John says, 'After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb' (Rev.7:9 NIV, emphasis added). We believe God has called us to help make this verse come true....

"This is not an impossible task. If it were, God would not have given it to us. But it is difficult. It takes hard work, dedication, perseverance and commitment. Teachers at Wycliffe's schools have helped thousands of students learn translation and literacy principles, but we lack people who are willing to go. Many don't realize how Bible translation is still needed around the world."

The U.S. Congress had an idea. They proclaimed the first Bible Translation Day over 30 years ago, in 1966, and another one a year later. We continue to carry the tradition. Bible Translation Day centers our attention on the unfinished task—the people yet to be reached, the translations yet to be completed. The following pages will help renew emphasis on Bible translation. Read the resolution from Congress proclaiming the first Bible Translation Day observance, held September 30, 1966, speeches by Senator Harris and Congressmen Reifel about Bible translation, and a history of translation and translators.