Mary Louise Defender Wilson facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Mary Louise Defender Wilson
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| Wagmuhawin | |
Defender Wilson in 2016
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Mary Louise Defender
October 14, 1930 Shields, North Dakota, U.S.
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| Other names | Gourd Woman |
| Occupation | Storyteller, tribal elder, administrator |
| Years active | 1980s–present |
| Spouse(s) | William Dean Wilson (married 1969–99) |
| Awards | National Heritage Fellowship, United States Artists fellowship |
Mary Louise Defender Wilson was born on October 14, 1930. Her Dakotah name is Wagmuhawin, which means Gourd Woman. She is a respected storyteller and teacher from the Dakotah people. She has also worked as an administrator in healthcare.
Mary Louise is known for her important cultural work. She received the National Heritage Fellowship in 1999. This is a top honor for folk and traditional artists in the United States. She also received a United States Artists fellowship in 2015.
Contents
Early Life and Family
Mary Louise Defender was born in 1930 near Shields. This area is part of the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in North Dakota. Her family was forced to move to the Standing Rock area in the 1890s.
Her mother, Helen Margaret See The Bear, was a midwife. Her grandfather, Tall Man See The Bear, herded sheep. Mary Louise's father, George Defender, passed away when she was only two years old. She went to a one-room school on the reservation for most of her education.
From a young age, Mary Louise was surrounded by stories. Her mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother were all storytellers. Her grandfather shared stories about nature in the Dakotah language. Mary Louise started telling stories at age 11. She would tell them in both English and Dakotah. She often repeated stories she heard from her elders.
In 1954, Mary Louise Wilson was named the second Miss Indian America.
Career and Storytelling
After moving to New Mexico, Mary Louise worked in different jobs. She helped Native American communities with things like family planning and healthcare. She returned to the reservation in 1976. Early in her career, she helped tribal members with land issues. This included helping those who lost land when dams were built on the Missouri River.
In the 1980s, she taught tribal culture and language. She taught at Standing Rock Community College, now called Sitting Bull College. She retired in 1996 from her job at the Native American Culture Center. This center was at the North Dakota State Hospital. After retiring, she worked as a consultant for Wisdom of the Elders. This group helps connect with Indian elders.
Sharing Stories with Audiences
Mary Louise Defender Wilson began telling stories for audiences in the early 1980s. She has shared her stories in many places. She taught the Dakotah language to school children. She also performed at colleges, churches, and festivals. Some of these included the American Indian Storytelling Festival in 2001. She also spoke at the Minnesota Storytelling Festival in 2005. She even gave a presentation to NASA scientists. This talk was about climate change on native lands.
Mary Louise has told stories across the United States. She has also performed in Canada, Iceland, and Germany. Her stories teach about Dakotah ethics. These include compassion, being helpful, working hard, and communicating well. She was part of an oral history project. It was called "The Respect and Honor Documentary Project."
Troyd Geist, a folklorist from North Dakota, has praised her storytelling. He said her stories "speak to the human experience." He noted that these old stories are still important today. They talk about feelings like love and sadness. They also discuss ideas like unity and peace.
Starting in 1984, she played her great-grandmother in a performance. It was called "Good Day, Medicine Woman." This show shared the values of the Yanktoni Sioux people. It showed their culture before and after they moved to reservations.
Radio and Recordings
In the late 1990s, Mary Louise hosted two radio shows. They aired on KLND-FM radio. One show, Oape Wanzi, shared tribal legends and history. It was in the Wichiyena dialect and then in English. She also hosted a call-in show. It was called Oyate Tawoabdeza ("The Public View"). On this show, she and listeners talked about important issues for Native Americans.
In 1999, she released her first spoken word album, The Elders Speak. Her second album, My Relatives Say, came out in 2001. This album was praised by School Library Journal. It said the album would be a great addition to libraries. Her third album, Un De' Che Cha Pí ("The Way We Are"), was released in 2003. All three of her albums won a Native American Music Award. They won for Best Spoken Word recording.
Later Years and Recognition
In 2004, Mary Louise was a presenter at the opening of the National Museum of the American Indian. This museum is on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. She performed at the Library of Congress in 2006. This was part of the Homegrown Concert Series.
In 2010, she was one of four Native American women invited to speak. They gave the Joseph Harper Cash Memorial Lecture. This was at the University of South Dakota. In 2015, at age 85, she received a $50,000 fellowship. This was from United States Artists. She was the first person from North Dakota to win this award. She was also the first storyteller to receive it.
As of late 2019, Mary Louise continued to share her stories. She gave talks in the upper Midwest. She was a special guest at the Elder-in-Residence program. This was at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in November 2019.
Mary Louise has worked to save oral history. She has also worked for the human rights of Native Americans. She has served on several boards and commissions. These include Arts Midwest and the North Dakota Council on the Arts. She was the only Native American on the North Dakota Centennial Commission.
In October 2022, a portrait of Mary Louise was revealed. It is part of the Glass City River Wall in Toledo, Ohio. Her image represents the elder or grandmother. She is honored alongside a mother and child. They represent the region's first farmers. These images are painted on grain silos over 100 feet tall. The mural is the largest in the United States. Mary Louise, then 92, attended the dedication.
Mary Louise Defender Wilson was featured in an exhibit in 2023–2024. It was called "On the Edge of the Wind: Native Storytellers & the Land." This exhibit was at the North Dakota Heritage Center & State Museum.
Personal Life
Mary Louise met her husband, William Dean Wilson, in 1949. They met at Haskell Indian Nations University. They married in 1969. Her husband worked as a Navajo tribal judge. He was one of the original Navajo code talkers in World War II. He was recruited when he was only 15. He passed away in 1999. He later received a Congressional Gold Medal in 2001. This honored the original Navajo code talkers.
One of her two brothers, Dan Defender, was a Navy frogman in World War II. He later worked for the Peace Corps. He worked for human rights on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. He passed away in 1995.
In 1988, Mary Louise was a delegate for North Dakota. She attended the 1988 Democratic National Convention. She supported candidate Jesse Jackson.
In 2002, a prairie fire destroyed Mary Louise's home in Shields. She lost all her family photos and many old family items. After the fire, she moved to Porcupine, North Dakota. This is a small community on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. She has served on the town's council.
Published Works
Books
- The Taken Land (1980s): stories collected by Defender Wilson and James V. Fenelon
- Die Welt Wird Niemals Enden: Geschichten der Dakota (2006): stories by Defender Wilson, translated into German
- Sundogs and Sunflowers: Folklore and Folk Art of the Northern Great Plains (2010): stories collected by Defender Wilson, Paul T. Emch, and Deborah Gourneau
Article
- "Voyage of Domination, 'Purchase' as Conquest, Sakakawea for Savagery: Distorted Icons from Misrepresentations of the Lewis and Clark Expedition"
Discography
As featured artist:
- The Elders Speak (1999)
- My Relatives Say (2001)
- Un De' Che Cha Pí ("The Way We Are") (2003)
As one of various artists on compilation recordings:
- Keep My Fires Burning (2002): Defender Wilson performs "The World Never Ends"
- Spirit Woods (2004): Defender Wilson performs "The Star in the Cottonwood Tree"
- North Dakota Council on the Arts 40th Anniversary (2006): Defender Wilson performs "The Spiderman Meets the Giant" and "The Star in the Cottonwood Tree"
- Spirit Mountain (2007): Defender Wilson performs "The World Never Ends"
Filmography
- Confronting Violence (1992), a Wisconsin Public Television documentary
- The Humanities Consultation (1998)
- Wisdom of the Elders: 1999 South Dakota Oral History Collection (tape 9)
- 19th Annual Evening of Storytelling (2016)
Awards and Honors
- North Dakota Centennial Commission Award (1989)
- The Bismarck Tribune Award (1990)
- Nominee for North Dakota's Theodore Roosevelt Rough Rider Award (1993)
- National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts (1999)
- Native American Music Award, Best Spoken Word recording for The Elders Speak (2000)
- Notable Document Award from the Government Documents Round Table of the American Library Association for The Elders Speak
- Featured on a National Women's History Month poster (2002)
- Native American Music Award, Best Spoken Word recording for My Relatives Say (2002)
- North Dakota Governor's Award for the Arts (2003)
- Bush Foundation grant (2004)
- Native American Music Award, Best Spoken Word recording for Un De' Che Cha Pí (2004)
- Honorary Doctor of Leadership degree from the University of Mary (2005)
- H. Councill Trenholm Memorial Award from the National Education Association (2009)
- Community Spirit Award from First Peoples Fund (2009)
- Enduring Vision Award from the Bush Foundation (2009)
- United States Artists Fellowship in Traditional Arts (2015)
- Women in American History Award from the Daughters of the American Revolution (2015)
- Native American Hall of Honor inductee (2017)
- Portrait included on the Glass City River Wall in Toledo, Ohio (2022)
