Terese Marie Mailhot facts for kids

Terese Marie Mailhot (born June 15, 1983) is a First Nations Canadian writer, journalist, and teacher. She is known for writing memoirs, which are books about her own life experiences.

Early Life and Learning

Mailhot grew up on the Seabird Island First Nation reservation in Seabird Island, British Columbia. Her mother, Wahzinak, was a healer, social worker, and poet. Her father, Ken Mailhot, was an artist. Terese faced difficult experiences as a child.

Mailhot's mother wrote letters to Salvador Agron. She shared these letters with musician Paul Simon. He used them for his Broadway musical, The Capeman. An actress named Sara Ramirez played Wahzinak in the musical. Terese is one of four children. She was in foster care sometimes and later left the system when she became an adult.

Her Family Background

Mailhot's family is Nlaka'pamux. This is part of the First Nations people. They are an indigenous group from southern British Columbia. Her grandmother, whom she was very close to, grew up in the Canadian Indian residential school system. This system was very difficult for many Indigenous children.

Her Education Journey

Mailhot earned her GED. This is a certificate that shows you have high school-level skills. She then went to community college. Mailhot later graduated from New Mexico State University with a bachelor's degree in English. In 2016, she earned a master's degree in fiction writing from the Institute of American Indian Arts.

Her Career as a Writer and Teacher

Mailhot worked as a columnist for Indian Country Today. She was also the Saturday Editor at The Rumpus. She taught English at Dona Ana Community College in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

In 2017, Mailhot became a special researcher at Purdue University. She works with the Native American Educational and Cultural Center there. Mailhot is also a professor at the Institute of American Indian Arts.

Her Book: Heart Berries

In 2018, Mailhot released her first book, Heart Berries: A Memoir. This book talks about difficult experiences and challenges she faced. Mailhot has said her journey shows how challenges can be passed down through families. She uses the term "Indian sick" to describe a spiritual process. This process helps her community heal their hearts and minds from tough experiences.

The title Heart Berries comes from a story. It is about a healer named O'dimin, the Heart Berry Boy. An Ojibwe friend, who teaches languages, told her this story. The book received many positive reviews. In March 2018, actress Emma Watson chose Mailhot's book for her book club. Heart Berries became a New York Times bestseller.

Mailhot started writing her memoir while she was getting help for her mental health. She had sought support after needing to deal with past difficult experiences. The book is made up of many essays. Mailhot wrote these essays when she was a student. Some parts of the book are written as letters to her partner at the time, Casey Gray. This style helps her think about memories from the past.

Personal Life

Mailhot has shared that she deals with mental health conditions.

Mailhot was married when she was a teenager. Later, she married writer Casey Gray. She has four sons.

Fellowships and Awards

• 2015: Southwestern Association for Indian Arts (SWAIA), Discovery Fellowship
• 2016: Vermont Studio Center, VSC/Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) Creative Writing Fellowship
• Writing by Writers, Fellowship
• Elk Writer's Workshop, Fellowship
• 2017: Purdue University, Tecumseh Postdoctoral Fellow

Selected Works

Books

• Heart Berries: A Memoir (2018)

See Also

• Sherman Alexie, a writer who supported Mailhot's early work.
• List of writers from peoples indigenous to the Americas
• There There (novel), a 2018 novel by Tommy Orange, who also studied at IAIA.