Charlene Teters: The Rosa Parks Of The American Indian Movement (Video)

Charlene Teters: The Rosa Parks Of The American Indian Movement (Video)


From her website: Charlene Teters, (Spokane), known for her activism and art, is presently a professor at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico. As a founding Board Member of the National Coalition on Racism in Sports and the Media, her activist-career began with a vigorous dispute with the University of Illinois over their use of a stereotyped image of an American Indian for the school’s sports mascot. She picketed sports events and launched a national debate about the appropriateness of this practice by sports and media. This history of Teters’ work is the subject of a nationally aired award winning documentary “In Whose Honor?” by Jay Rosenstein.

Today, I am an active artist and exhibit internationally. By creating multimedia installations that examine the social presumptions and portrayals of Indian people in pop culture and media, my artwork expresses my personal and political views about America’s dehumanization of Indian Peoples.

I hold a Masters of Fine Art from the University of Illinois and Honorary Doctorate in Fine Art from Mitchell College, New London Connecticut. ABC World News Tonight with Peter Jennings honored me as their “Person of the Week,” October 10, 1997.

I am currently a Professor of Art at the Institute of American Indian Art and have also served as Dean of the College of Arts and Cultural Studies at IAIA. Teaching is a cherished cultural skill amongst Native people and as such I take my responsibility as a teacher to heart. My art, lecturing and teaching has centered around achieving a national shift in the perception of native people. All too often we are still seen as objects or as a people trapped in the past-tense. We are twenty first century people, and must be seen as such in order to deal with the serious issues that face us today. Yet, even in the aftermath of a momentous civil rights movement we are invisible under the weight of “mythology.” Our Native Students need to be recognized so that they can contribute to the larger community.

– Charlene Teters
 
 
From Wikipedia: Charlene Teters (born April 25, 1952, Spokane, Washington) is a Native American artist, educator, and lecturer. Her paintings and art installations have been featured in over 21 major exhibitions, commissions, and collections. She is a member of the Spokane Tribe, and her Spokane name is Slum Tah. She was born and raised in Spokane, Washington, near the Spokane Indian Reservation.

She has been active in opposing the use of Native American mascots and other imagery in sports since 1989. She is a founding board member of the National Coalition on Racism in Sports and the Media (NCRSM).

“Often, people think about Native Americans as we were envisioned at the turn of the century. If we’re not walking around in buckskin and fringe, mimicking the stereotype in dress and art form, we’re not seen as real. Native Americans are here, and we are contemporary people, yet we are very much informed and connected to our history.”

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