Mary Louise Defender Wilson

Mary Louise Defender Wilson (born October 14, 1930), also known by her Dakotah name Wagmuhawin (Gourd Woman),[1] is a storyteller, traditionalist, historian, scholar and educator of the Dakotah/Hidatsa people and a former director working in health care organizations. Her cultural work has been recognized with a National Heritage Fellowship in 1999 and a United States Artists fellowship in 2015, among many other honors.

This article is about the Native American storyteller. For the American actress, see Mary Louise Wilson.

Mary Louise Defender Wilson
Wagmuhawin
Defender Wilson in 2016
Born
Mary Louise Defender

(1930-10-14) October 14, 1930
Shields, North Dakota, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Other namesGourd Woman
OccupationStoryteller, tribal elder, administrator
Years active1980s–present
Spouse(s)William Dean Wilson (married 1969–99)
AwardsNational Heritage Fellowship, United States Artists fellowship

Early life

Defender was born on October 14, 1930, near Shields on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in North Dakota.[1] Her ancestors were forced by the military[2] into the Standing Rock area in the 1890s.[3] Her mother, Helen Margaret See The Bear, was a midwife and her grandfather, Tall Man See The Bear, herded sheep. Her father was George Defender, who died when his daughter was only two years old.[4] She received most of her formal education going to a one-room reservation school.[5]

From a young age, Defender Wilson was surrounded by the storytelling of her Dakotah-speaking family. Her mother, grandmother and great-grandmother were all midwives and storytellers.[6] Her grandfather would share stories about places, plants and animals in the Wicheyena dialect of the Dakotah Sioux language.[7] Wilson began telling stories at age 11, in both English and Dakotah, usually repeating the stories she heard from her elders.[8]

In 1954, Wilson became the second Miss Indian America.[1]

Career

After she moved to New Mexico with her husband, Defender Wilson worked in a variety of administrative jobs with Native American-related government agencies, including family planning and health care, before returning to the reservation in 1976. Much of her early working life was spent helping tribal members with land issues, including efforts to compensate Native Americans who lost land or their homes during the building of Missouri River dams.[5][9] In the 1980s, she taught tribal culture and language at Standing Rock Community College (now known as Sitting Bull College) in Fort Yates, North Dakota.[1][5] She retired in 1996 from the directorship of the Native American Culture Center at the North Dakota State Hospital in Jamestown.[8] After retiring, she worked as a consultant for Wisdom of the Elders, a symposium of Indian elders based out of Portland, Oregon.[10]

It was not until the early 1980s that Defender Wilson began actively telling stories of her people and their culture for audiences.[11] She has given talks and performed her stories in many venues, including teaching the Dakotah language to school children,[12] at colleges and universities across the United States,[13][14][15] at churches,[16] at women's festivals,[17] and at storytelling festivals such as the 2001 American Indian Storytelling Festival in Madison, Wisconsin[18] and the 20th anniversary of the Minnesota Storytelling Festival in 2005.[19] She once gave a presentation to NASA scientists at a workshop in Albuquerque, New Mexico about climate change on native lands.[10]

Defender Wilson has told her stories throughout the United States as well as in Canada, Iceland, and Germany.[20] Her stories reflect the four main tenets of Dakotah ethics, which are "compassion, being helpful, working hard, and communicating well".[21] She was a Native American Humanities Scholar on an oral history project titled "The Respect and Honor Documentary Project".[22]

North Dakota folklorist Troyd Geist has said of Wilson's storytelling:[7]

The stories she tells speak to the human experience…. Those ancient narratives continue today because they are just as relevant now as they were in centuries past -- love and hatred, joy and sadness, unity and separation, peace and violence, truth and the desire to be better human beings.

Starting in 1984[2] and continuing for decades, she portrayed her great-grandmother in a program variously titled as "Good Day, Medicine Woman" or "Good Day, a Yanktoni Sioux Woman". Her ancestor lived from about 1850 to 1930, and the performance addressed the values and culture of the Yanktoni Sioux both before and after they were sent to reservations.[5][23][24] In the late 1990s, she hosted two radio programs aired on KLND-FM in Little Eagle, South Dakota. The Saturday morning show titled Oape Wanzi featured tribal legend, culture and history presented in the Wichiyena dialect and then in English. She also hosted a Thursday morning call-in show titled Oyate Tawoabdeza ("The Public View") where she and her listeners would discuss local, regional, and national issues important to Native Americans.[10]

In 1999, Defender Wilson released her first spoken word album, The Elders Speak.[25] Her second album, My Relatives Say, was released in 2001.[26] A review of the album in School Library Journal, which helps librarians with purchasing decisions, concluded with "This enhanced CD will add a great deal to any library seeking to increase its collection of quality Native American folk tales".[27] As of December 2020, the album is held in 47 libraries worldwide.[28] Her third album, Un De' Che Cha Pí ("The Way We Are"), was released in 2003.[29] All three of her albums earned a Native American Music Award for Best Spoken Word recording.[7][30]

She was a presenter at the 2004 opening of the National Museum of the American Indian on the mall in Washington, D.C.[7][31] Defender Wilson performed along with fellow Native American storyteller Keith Bear at the Library of Congress on August 26, 2006, as part of the Homegrown Concert Series sponsored by the American Folklife Center.[32]

In 2010, Defender Wilson was one of four Native American women invited to present the 16th annual Joseph Harper Cash Memorial Lecture at the University of South Dakota.[33] In 2015, at age 85 she received a United States Artists fellowship of $50,000. She was the first person from North Dakota and the first storyteller to win the award.[7]

As of late 2019, Defender Wilson continues to present her stories and talks in the upper Midwest.[34][35] She was the featured guest at the Elder-in-Residence program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in November 2019.[36]

In recognition of her work dedicated to the preservation of oral history and in working for the human rights of Native Americans, Defender Wilson has served on several boards and commissions, including Arts Midwest, the North Dakota Council on the Arts, the North Dakota Humanities Council, and the North Dakota Centennial Commission.[5][37] She was the only Native American on the 18-member Centennial Commission.[38]

Personal life

Defender met her future husband William Dean Wilson (previously known as William Diné Yazzie) in 1949 at Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kansas,[12] where Wilson was sent following his discharge from the military after World War II. They married in 1969.[39] Her husband worked as a Navajo tribal judge in New Mexico.[5] He was one of the original 29 World War II Navajo code talkers,[40][41] having been recruited for the job by the military when he was only 15 years old, although he claimed to be 18 at the time.[42] Her husband died in December 1999 and posthumously received a Congressional Gold Medal in 2001 honoring the original Navajo code talkers.[39]

One of her two brothers, Dan Defender, was an underwater demolition technician (Navy frogman) during World War II, who later served in the Peace Corps. He was a member of Advocates for Human and Civil Rights, working for his community on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. He died in December 1995.[43]

In 1988, Defender Wilson was one of 15 North Dakota delegates to the Democratic National Convention. She was pledged to candidate Jesse Jackson.[44]

In the summer of 2002, Wilson's home in Shields was destroyed by a prairie fire, including all of her photographs of herself and her family[45] and many antique family heirlooms that she used in her presentations.[46]

After the fire, she moved a few miles away to Porcupine, North Dakota,[8] a community of less than 150 people on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, where she still resides as of 2018.[47] She has served on the town's council.[48]

Published works

Books
  • The Taken Land (1980s): stories collected by Defender Wilson and James V. Fenelon[49]
  • Die Welt Wird Niemals Enden: Geschichten der Dakota (2006): stories by Defender Wilson, translated into German by Michael Schlottner[50]
  • Sundogs and Sunflowers: Folklore and Folk Art of the Northern Great Plains (2010): stories collected by Defender Wilson, Paul T. Emch, and Deborah Gourneau[51]

Article
  • "Voyage of Domination, 'Purchase' as Conquest, Sakakawea for Savagery: Distorted Icons from Misrepresentations of the Lewis and Clark Expedition"[52]

Discography

As featured artist:

  • The Elders Speak (1999)[25]
  • My Relatives Say (2001)[26]
  • Un De' Che Cha Pí ("The Way We Are") (2003)[29]

As one of various artists on compilation recordings:

  • Keep My Fires Burning (2002): Defender Wilson performs "The World Never Ends"[53]
  • Spirit Woods (2004): Defender Wilson performs "The Star in the Cottonwood Tree"[54]
  • North Dakota Council on the Arts 40th Anniversary (2006): Defender Wilson performs "The Spiderman Meets the Giant" and "The Star in the Cottonwood Tree"[55]
  • Spirit Mountain (2007): Defender Wilson performs "The World Never Ends"[56]

Filmography
  • Confronting Violence (1992), a Wisconsin Public Television documentary program that featured Defender Wilson among five other interviewees examining how individuals respond to violence in their local communities.[57]
  • The Humanities Consultation (1998)[58]
  • Wisdom of the Elders: 1999 South Dakota Oral History Collection (tape 9)[59]
  • 19th Annual Evening of Storytelling (2016)[60]

Awards and honors

References
  1. "Mary Louise Defender Wilson: Dakotah-Hidatsa Traditionalist/Storyteller". www.arts.gov. National Endowment for the Arts. n.d. Retrieved December 19, 2020.
  2. Doll, Don (1994). Vision Quest: Men, Women, and Sacred Sites of the Sioux Nation (1st ed.). New York: Crown. p. 142. ISBN 9780517599044. OCLC 30031890.
  3. Levy, Paul (October 21, 1999). "Gourd Woman Tells Traditional Tales on CD". Star-Tribune. Minneapolis, Minnesota. p. Variety section, 1E.
  4. "Mary Louise Defender Wilson". United States Artists. 2015. Retrieved December 20, 2020.
  5. Bonham, Kevin (April 2, 1989). "Blazing Trails in Indian Education on These Pages is a Cross Section of Notable – Not Necessarily the Most Well-Known – Contemporary Indians in North Dakota". Grand Forks Herald. Grand Forks, North Dakota. p. 6.
  6. "Elders Share Wisdom of Their Cultures at PSU". The Columbian. Vancouver, Washington. February 17, 2000. p. F4.
  7. Frank, Tracy (December 7, 2015). "North Dakota storyteller receives major artistic honor". The Dickinson Press. Dickinson, North Dakota. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
  8. "Religion Digest". The Bismarck Tribune. Bismarck, North Dakota. December 11, 2003. p. 2C.
  9. Spilde, Tony (August 10, 2007). "Long Time Coming". The Bismarck Tribune. Bismarck, North Dakota. p. 1A. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  10. Voskuil, Vicki (June 6, 1999). "Preserving Tradition: Storyteller shares the past of her people". The Bismarck Tribune. Bismarck, North Dakota. p. 1C.
  11. Papatola, Dominic P. (June 14, 2009). "Bush Foundation awards $1 million to regional artists, with three earning $100,000 each for their 'enduring vision'". St. Paul Pioneer Press. St. Paul, Minnesota. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
  12. "Saving Dakotah: Standing Rock-Area Woman Works to Preserve Native Language". Grand Forks Herald. Grand Forks, North Dakota. Associated Press. October 29, 2002.
  13. "Angela Davis to Speak at Race Conference: Race, Gender, and Class Will Be Discussed". The Times-Picayune. New Orleans, Louisiana. October 1, 2000. p. East New Orleans Picayune section, 2.
  14. "Celebrated Native American storyteller Mary Louise Defender Wilson to speak at CSUSB on May 19" (Press release). Sacramento, California: The California State University. Plus Media Solutions. May 18, 2016. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
  15. Jones, Christy (August 28, 2008). "American folk artists to share native customs, traditions at Purdue". Purdue University. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
  16. "'The Power of Story' at UU". The Bismarck Tribune. Bismarck, North Dakota. April 3, 2008. p. Life section.
  17. Herzog, Karen (June 30, 2004). "Women's Festival Features Music, Arts, and Workshops". The Bismarck Tribune. p. 2B. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  18. Lampert Smith, Susan (February 16, 2001). "Words That Mesmerize: Traditional Indian Storytellers Warm the Winter Nights at UW". Wisconsin State Journal. p. A1.
  19. "Festival marks 20 years of storytelling". Globe Gazette. Mason City, Iowa. February 24, 2005. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  20. "About Town". The Bismarck Tribune. Bismarck, North Dakota. October 18, 2015. p. Section E, 4. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  21. Nathans, Aaron (February 15, 2001). "Lessons of Indian Stories". The Capital Times. Madison, Wisconsin. p. 1A.
  22. Mahar, Ted (February 18, 2000). "Vessels of Wisdom". The Oregonian. Portland, Oregon. p. 5.
  23. "Program to honor medicine woman". The Bismarck Tribune. Bismarck, North Dakota. April 24, 1994. p. 6D.
  24. "U-Mary schedules Lewis and Clark events". The Bismarck Tribune. Bismarck, North Dakota. October 1, 2004. p. 3C.
  25. Gourd Woman and Eagle Heart (1999). The Elders Speak (CD). Bismarck, N.D.: Makoché Music/BMI. LCCN 2001-559220. OCLC 42816235. MW0164D.
  26. Mary Louise Defender Wilson and Bryan Akipa (2001). My Relatives Say (CD). Bismarck, North Dakota: Makoché. ISBN 9780965087278. LCCN 2003-693917. OCLC 54754015. MW0185D.
  27. Wysocki, Barbara (April 2002). "My Relatives Say". School Library Journal. 48 (4): 86.
  28. "Defender-Wilson, Mary Louise". OCLC WorldCat Identities. OCLC Online Computer Library Center. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
  29. Mary Louise Defender Wilson (2003). Un de' che cha pí [The Way We Are] (CD). Bismarck, North Dakota: North Dakota Council on the Arts. ISBN 9780911205060. OCLC 55606527. NDCA063.
  30. "Winners A-Z 1998 - Present". Native American Music Awards. n.d. Retrieved December 20, 2020.
  31. "Today at the First Americans Festival". The Washington Post. September 26, 2004. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
  32. Mary Louise Defender Wilson and Keith Bear (2006). Mary Louise Defender Wilson and Keith Bear concert and interview collection (archival material (video file)). Washington, D.C.: Archive of Folk Culture, American Folklife Center. LCCN 2007-700253. OCLC 963437744.
  33. "2010 Cash Lecture at USD to focus on 'Cultural Leadership'". www.usd.edu. University of South Dakota. October 13, 2010. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
  34. "Going Out". Wisconsin State Journal. Madison, Wisconsin. November 21, 2019. p. Local section, A2.
  35. "July in North Dakota A Good Time for All". Valley City Times-Record. Valley City, North Dakota. July 3, 2019. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
  36. "Mary Louise Defender Wilson To Be UW-Madison's Elder-in-Residence". The Daily Cardinal. Madison, Wisconsin. November 10, 2019. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
  37. Tuchscherer, Rebekah (August 14, 2020). "Scientist Pearl Young, teachers and politicians among inspiring North Dakota women". Argus Leader. Sioux Fall, South Dakota. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
  38. Bonham, Kevin (November 2, 1989). "All in all, a great centennial year". Grand Forks Herald. Grand Forks, North Dakota. p. 1A.
  39. Shebala, Marley (September 4, 2010). "A Beautiful Gold Medal". Navajo Times. Window Rock, Arizona. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
  40. Herzog, Karen (August 30, 2011). "Code talkers' stories featured at Smithsonian Exhibit at Heritage Center". The Bismarck Tribune. Bismarck, North Dakota. p. Section Dakota Wire, 1B. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  41. "N.D. woman's husband a code talker". The Bismarck Tribune. Bismarck, North Dakota. October 31, 2003. p. Section Dakota Wire, 1B. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  42. Culler, Leah L. (December 26, 1999). "First a sheepherder, then a code talker and a judge, Wilson gave a lot to his people". Farmington Daily Times. Farmington, New Mexico. pp. 17, 20.
  43. Salter, Peter (December 7, 1995). "Activist remembered for battles: Standing Rock's Dan Defender dies at 69". The Bismarck Tribune. Bismarck, North Dakota. p. 1A.
  44. Grass, James (July 20, 1988). "Two Native American delegates from South and North Dakota have different goals in mind at the Democratic National Convention". USA Today. Arlington, Virginia.
  45. Winter, Deena (July 1, 2002). "Is This the End for Shields?". The Bismarck Tribune. Bismarck, North Dakota. p. 1A. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  46. Nicholson, Blake (July 1, 2002). "Grass Fire Disaster: Blaze Destroys South-Central N.D. Town". Grand Forks Herald. Grand Forks, North Dakota. Associated Press. p. 1A.
  47. MacPherson, James (May 27, 2018). "Pipeline stance complicates Heitkamp's 2nd term Senate hopes". Associated Press. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
  48. Albrecht, Mike (September 26, 2002). "Ranchers coping after fire". The Bismarck Tribune. Bismarck, North Dakota. p. 1B. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  49. Fenelon, James V.; Defender-Wilson, Mary Louise (c. 1980). The Taken Land. Bismarck, North Dakota: Standing Rock Landowner's Association. OCLC 46029728.
  50. Defender-Wilson, Mary Louise; Schlottner, Michael (2006). Die Welt Wird Niemals Enden: Geschichten der Dakota (in German). Frankfurt am Main: Insel Verlag. ISBN 9783458173014. OCLC 716893740.
  51. Kloberdanz, Timothy J.; Geist, Troyd A., eds. (2010). Sundogs and Sunflowers: Folklore and Folk Art of the Northern Great Plains. Bismarck, North Dakota: North Dakota Council on the Arts. ISBN 9780911205213. OCLC 800795203.
  52. Fenelon, James V.; Defender-Wilson, Mary Louise (Spring 2004). "Voyage of Domination, "Purchase" as Conquest, Sakakawea for Savagery: Distorted Icons from Misrepresentations of the Lewis and Clark Expedition". Wicazo Sa Review. University of Minnesota Press. 19 (1): 85–104. doi:10.1353/wic.2004.0006. JSTOR 1409488.
  53. James Marienthal, producer (2002). Keep My Fires Burning (CD). Lafayette, Colorado: Red Feather Music. OCLC 62073676.
  54. Spirit Woods: Traditional Stories and Songs of Forests and Trees (CD). Bismarck, North Dakota: North Dakota Council on the Arts. 2004. ISBN 9780911205077. OCLC 55956252. NDCA071.
  55. North Dakota Council on the Arts 40th Anniversary: A Compilation (CD). Bismarck, North Dakota: North Dakota Council on the Arts. 2004. OCLC 85482493.
  56. Spirit Mountain: Authentic Music of the American Indian (CD). London, England: Cooking Vinyl. 2007. OCLC 871992650. 036.
  57. Evansen, Russell (February 25, 1992). "'Violence' Confronts Problem, Offers Hope". Wisconsin State Journal. p. Look section, 2C.
  58. The Humanities Consultation (VHS). Wisdom of the Elders, Inc. 1998. OCLC 42722077.
  59. Wisdom of the Elders: 1999 South Dakota Oral History Collection (VHS). Bismarck, North Dakota: Community Access Television. 1999. OCLC 44463168.
  60. Mary Louise Defender Wilson and Joey Awonohopay (2016). 19th Annual Evening of Storytelling (DVD). Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin American Indian Studies Program. OCLC 1007172696.
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  66. "Defender Wilson has had tough year". The Bismarck Tribune. Bismarck, North Dakota. August 21, 2002. p. 2B.
  67. Frisinger, Cathy (March 17, 2002). "Herstory: Six Women Worthy of Recognition". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Fort Worth, Texas. p. Life section, 3.
  68. Barraco, Stefanie (March 1, 2002). "CNY Celebrates Women's History Month". The Post-Standard. Syracuse, New York. p. D1.
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  70. Grantier, Virginia (June 18, 2004). "Two North Dakota Artists Get $44,000 Grants Each". The Bismarck Tribune. Bismarck, North Dakota. p. 10A. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
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  76. "Above and Beyond: program recognizes Native Americans for significant achievements". Minot Daily News. Minot, North Dakota. n.d. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
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