Teriananda papers
Object Details
- Author
- Teriananda, 1947-
- Names
- Boncore, John, 1952-2013
- Peltier, Leonard
- Wahpepah, Bill
- Place
- James Bay (Nunavut)
- Black Hills (South Dakota)
- Topic
- Indians of North America -- Civil rights
- AIDS (Disease)
- Indians of North America -- Land tenure
- Provenance
- Gift of Teriananda, March 2003.
- Author
- Teriananda, 1947-
- Culture
- Diné (Navajo)
- Hopi Pueblo
- Cree
- Mohawk
- Western Shoshone
- See more items in
- Teriananda papers
- Summary
- The Teriananda Papers contain writings authored by Teriananda, clippings, flyers, correspondence, and newsletters that represent the political activities she participated in on behalf of Indigenous peoples.
- Biographical / Historical
- Teriananda was born in Manhattan in 1947, where she grew up and has continued to live throughout her adult life. Teriananda's father, born in Brooklyn, became a financial officer and independent scholar, her mother, born in British Guiana (now Guyana), was a classical pianist who immigrated to the United States and later became an editorial assistant, working part-time during Teriananda's childhood. Her parents instilled in Teriananda a belief that she was "a citizen of the world." She studied ballet as a youngster, and, as a teenager, immersed herself in the artistic and intellectual milieu of the Lower East Side and Greenwich Village. An improperly diagnosed back injury while she was a senior in high school resulted in severe back problems in the 1970s that have persisted throughout her life. Teriananda became interested in Indigenous struggles in the 1970s following a "back crisis" that almost took her life yet proved to be psychically transformative. In seeking to know who she was, she realized she needed to know where she was, and this led her to ask who the original inhabitants of the continent were. She soon became involved in activist struggles for Indigenous rights, and worked with a number of Native American groups during the 1970s and 1980s, including, among other things, the International Treaty Council's attempts to found the U.N.'s permanent Working Group on Indigenous People, support for Yvonne Wanrow and Leonard Peltier, the issue of uranium contamination from mining on Native American land, and the problem of the Joint Land Use Area near Big Mountain on the Hopi and Navajo reservations. Teriananda also worked on issues surrounding the AIDS crisis after the death of several friends from this disease. She had become familiar with the possibilities of natural medicines, partly through contact with traditional Native teachers, and she became active promoting the benefits of nutritional, herbal and other natural therapies to sufferers of AIDS. As Teriananda's own health issues persisted and worsened, she turned to Tibetan Buddhism, and has devoted herself to artistic pursuits influenced by this spiritual path, although she has worked artistically since the early 1970s, when she stopped dancing. Although she has cut back on her activism, due to health problems and family demands, Teriananda remains a committed political activist who stays informed of current issues and is determined to pass on the heritage of struggles for peace and justice to the next generation. (Provided by Teriananda)
- Function
- American Indian Movement
- Extent
- 3.96 Linear feet
- Date
- 1950-2009
- bulk 1975-1990
- Archival Repository
- National Museum of the American Indian
- Identifier
- NMAI.AC.009
- Type
- Collection descriptions
- Archival materials
- Writings
- Clippings
- Citation
- Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Teriananda Papers, NMAI.AC.009; National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.
- Arrangement
- The Teriananda papers are arranged into five series, primarily based on geography following the donor's original arrangement. Folders in each series are arranged alphabetically: Series 1: North America Series 2: Central and South American Series 3: Philippines and South Africa Series 4: Collected Publication Series 5: Additional Material
- Processing Information
- Processed by Mattie Lewis, Archives Technician in 2024.
- Rights
- Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not modified in any way, the Smithsonian Institution copyright notice (where applicable) is included, and the source of the image is identified as the National Museum of the American Indian. NMAI has no information on the status of literary rights for the work of others found in these papers; researchers are responsible for determining any question of copyright. For more information please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use and NMAI Archive Center's Digital Image request website.
- Genre/Form
- Writings
- Clippings
- Scope and Contents
- This collection is comprised of newspaper and magazine articles, newsletters, flyers, correspondence, and writtings by Teriananda. The majority of the material is from the United States, 1970-1990, and highlights some of the major problems faced by Indigenous peoples during the time period and continue today.
- Restrictions
- Access to NMAI Archives Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
- Record ID
- ebl-1503512580778-1503512580781-0
- Metadata Usage
- CC0
In the Collection
Pages
Pages
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