Henrietta Mann

Last updated

Henrietta Mann
Born
Henrietta Verle Mann

1934 (age 89–90)
Clinton, Custer County, Oklahoma
Nationality Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, American
Other namesHenri Mann, Henri Mann Morton, Henrietta Whiteman
Occupation(s)academic, activist
Years active1954–present

Henrietta Verle Mann (Southern Cheyenne, b. 1934) is a Native American academic and activist. She was one of the designers of the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Montana and Haskell Indian Nations University's Native American studies programs. In 2000 she became the first American Indian to hold the endowed chair of Native American studies at Montana State University and was honored with the Montana Governor's Humanities Award. She retired in 2004 and became a special advisor to the president of Montana State University.

Contents

Early life and education

Henrietta Verle "Henri" Mann was born in 1934 in Clinton, Custer County, Oklahoma to Lanora E. and Henry Mann. [1] The Manns were enrolled in the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma. [2] Her father was a farmer and raised cattle on his family's allotment near Hammon, Oklahoma and her mother raised chickens. Her great-grandmothers were White Buffalo Woman, one of the survivors of the Sand Creek massacre, and Vister, a survivor of the Washita Massacre. Her mother was a Christian, but the rest of her family followed traditional belief systems and the Native American Church. [3]

Mann's first language was Cheyenne and even after she started school in Hammon, an aunt came daily to give her after-school lessons in Cheyenne culture. After graduating from high school in 1950, Mann went on to study at the normal school at Southwestern State College in Weatherford, Oklahoma. [3] In 1954, she earned her bachelor's degree [2] in English and her parents gave her the Indian name "The Woman Who Comes to Offer Prayer". [3] She married while working as a high school English teacher, Alfred Whiteman, who died in 1980, and had four children with him. [2] [3]

Career

As an elected board member for the Tribal Council, she was one of the authors of the federal legislation which resulted in a $15 million judgment from the US government in favor of her tribe in 1967 as part of the settlements of the Indian Claims Commission. [2] She advocated for the creation of Native American studies programs to develop not only self-awareness but to allow American Indians to be empowered with self-determination. [4] She was the "founding president of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribal college". [5]

In 1970, Whiteman completed her master's degree in English literature at Oklahoma State University [2] [6] and was hired as part of the faculty for ethnic studies created after the Third World Liberation Front strike at University of California, Berkeley. [3] She helped develop the curricula for the first-degree program for ethnic studies in the United States, while at Berkeley. [7] [8] [9] That same year, she joined with other Native American women in the founding of the National Indian Women's Action Corps, an empowerment organization. The organizing officers included Dorothy Lonewolf Miller, president; Grace Thorpe (Sac & Fox), vice president; Stella Leach (Colville-Oglala Lakota), 2nd vice president; Woesha Cloud North (Ho-Chunk), secretary; Whiteman, treasurer; and Jennie R. Joe (Navajo), sergeant-at-arms. [10] After teaching for two years at UC Berkeley, in 1972, she was hired to direct the Native American Studies program at the University of Montana, in Missoula. [2] [3] She would be a key designer of the curricula and taught at the university for 28 years. [3]

As a Danforth Fellow, Whiteman continued her education, earning a PhD in American Studies from the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque in 1982. That year, she was honored as Cheyenne Indian of the Year, for the American Indian Exposition. [6] Between 1986 and 1987, she took a leave of absence from the University of Montana, teaching at Harvard University and serving in the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Indian Education Office. [3] [4] She was the first woman American Indian woman to hold the position of director of Indian education programs and was selected by Assistant Department of the Interior Secretary Ross Swimmer (Cherokee Nation). [11] Whiteman was selected by the American Indian Heritage Foundation in Washington, D. C., as Indian Woman of the Year for 1987. [12]

Whiteman married Jim Morton in 1988, but they divorced after a decade. [3] [9] In 1991, Morton stepped away from her duties as director of the Native Studies Program and was promoted to a professorship which would give her more time to focus on writing. [6] [4] That year, she was featured in Rolling Stone as one of the top ten professors in the United States. [13] During her time at the University of Montana, she took eight sabbaticals and became a widely respected speaker nationally on the issue of Indian education. [3] [14] During one of those leaves in 1993 and 1994, she helped design a Native American Studies Program for Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kansas. [3] [8]

National Arts and Humanities Medal Ceremony Tuesday, March 21, 2023, in the East Room of the White House P20230321CS-0123.jpg
National Arts and Humanities Medal Ceremony Tuesday, March 21, 2023, in the East Room of the White House

Mann returned to using her maiden name around 1998. [3] In 2000, she was selected to receive the Montana Governor's Humanities Award. [15] In 2001, Mann moved to Montana State University (MSU) in Bozeman, to accept a position as the first person to occupy the endowed chair of Native American Studies at MSU. [3] Retiring from teaching in 2003, Mann became a special advisor to the president of Montana State University. [14] She served as one of the trustees who guided the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian, which opened in 2004. [3] In 2008, she was honored by the National Indian Education Association with a lifetime achievement award and in 2016, she became one of only two American Indians elected to the National Academy of Education. [16] At age [17] 89, Mann has received one of the nation’s highest honors — the National Humanities Medal — presented to her on March 21, 2023, by President Joe Biden. Mann is credited with strengthening and developing Native American studies in higher education.

Selected works

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arapaho</span> Native American tribe

The Arapaho are a Native American people historically living on the plains of Colorado and Wyoming. They were close allies of the Cheyenne tribe and loosely aligned with the Lakota and Dakota.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cheyenne</span> Native American Indian tribe from the Great Plains

The Cheyenne are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. The Cheyenne comprise two Native American tribes, the Só'taeo'o or Só'taétaneo'o and the Tsétsėhéstȧhese ; the tribes merged in the early 19th century. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized nations: the Southern Cheyenne, who are enrolled in the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes in Oklahoma, and the Northern Cheyenne, who are enrolled in the Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation in Montana. The Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian language family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Montana State University</span> Public research university in Bozeman, Montana, U.S.

Montana State University (MSU) is a public land-grant research university in Bozeman, Montana, United States. It enrolls more students than any other college or university in the state. MSU offers baccalaureate degrees in 60 fields, master's degrees in 68 fields, and doctoral degrees in 35 fields through its nine colleges. More than 16,700 students attended MSU in the fall 2019, taught by 796 full-time and 547 part-time faculty. In the Carnegie Classification, MSU is placed among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity", one of only two universities to receive this distinction with a "very high undergraduate" enrollment profile. The university had research expenditures of $257.9 million in 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bozeman Trail</span> Protected area

The Bozeman Trail was an overland route in the Western United States, connecting the gold rush territory of southern Montana to the Oregon Trail in eastern Wyoming. Its important period was from 1863 to 1868. While the major part of the route used by Bozeman Trail travelers in 1864 was pioneered by Allen Hurlbut, it was named after John Bozeman. Many miles of the Bozeman Trail in present Montana followed the tracks of Bridger Trail, opened by Jim Bridger in 1864.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NBC Montana</span> Network of western Montana NBC affiliates

NBC Montana is a regional network of three television stations in western Montana, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group. It is headquartered in Missoula, and serves as the NBC affiliate for the Missoula and Butte markets.

KXLF-TV is a television station in Butte, Montana, United States, affiliated with CBS. Owned by the E. W. Scripps Company, it is part of the Montana Television Network (MTN), a statewide network of CBS-affiliated stations. KXLF-TV's studios are located on South Montana Street in downtown Butte, and its transmitter is located on XL Heights east of the city. KXLF-TV and KBZK in Bozeman split the media market, and local news for the Butte area is produced from KBZK's Bozeman studios.

KPAX-TV is a television station in Missoula, Montana, United States, affiliated with CBS. Owned by the E. W. Scripps Company, it is part of the Montana Television Network, a statewide network of CBS-affiliated stations. KPAX-TV's studios are located on West Central Avenue in Missoula, and its transmitter is located on TV Mountain north of the city.

The Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes are a united, federally recognized tribe of Southern Arapaho and Southern Cheyenne people in western Oklahoma.

Debra Cecille Magpie Earling is a Native American novelist, and short story writer. She is a member of the Bitterroot Salish (tribe). She is the author of Perma Red and The Lost Journals of Sacajewea, which was on display at the Missoula Museum of Art in late 2011. Her work has also appeared in Ploughshares, the Northeast Indian Quarterly, and many anthologies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colleen L. McGuire</span> United States Army officer

Brigadier General Colleen L. McGuire is a retired officer of the United States Army. She was the Commanding General of the United States Army Criminal Investigation Command and the 13th Provost Marshal General, the first woman to hold either position. McGuire was also the first woman to be commandant of the United States Disciplinary Barracks, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monica Tranel</span> American rower, lawyer, and political candidate

Monica Joan Tranel is an American rower and lawyer. She competed at the 1996 and 2000 Summer Olympics. Tranel ran in the 2022 and 2024 U.S. House of Representatives elections in Montana.

This is a timeline of pre-statehood Montana history comprising substantial events in the history of the area that would become the State of Montana prior to November 8, 1889. This area existed as Montana Territory from May 28, 1864, until November 8, 1889, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Montana.

Promethea Olympia Kyrene Pythaitha is an American child genius with an IQ of 173. She started reading at age 1, began learning college-level calculus and was profiled by a CBS News 48 Hours special on "Whiz Kids!" at age 7, and at age 13 became the youngest student to complete work for a bachelor's degree from Montana State University in Mathematics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pretty Nose</span> Arapaho woman

Pretty Nose was an Arapaho woman who participated in the Battle of the Little Bighorn. She lived to be at least 101 years old and reportedly became a war chief.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gennie DeWeese</span> American painter (1921–2007)

Genevieve "Gennie" DeWeese was a modernist painter and prominent member of the art community in Bozeman, Montana. Gennie and her husband, Robert "Bob" DeWeese were notable for the major role they played in the development of the Montana contemporary arts community.

Marjorie Bear Don't Walk is an Ojibwa-Salish health care professional and Native American fashion designer. She is most known as an advocate for reforms in the Indian Health Service, and specifically the care of urban Native Americans. In addition, she is a fashion designer who has targeted career women, designing professional attire which incorporated traditional techniques into her clothing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern Plains Indian Museum</span>

Southern Plains Indian Museum is a Native American museum located in Anadarko, Oklahoma. It was opened in 1948 under a cooperative governing effort by the United States Department of the Interior and the Oklahoma state government. The museum features cultural and artistic works from Oklahoma tribal peoples of the Southern Plains region, including the Caddo, Chiricahua Apache, Comanche, Delaware Nation, Kiowa, Plains Apache, Southern Arapaho, Southern Cheyenne, and Wichita.

The 1901 Montana Agricultural football team was an American football team that represented the Agricultural College of the State of Montana during the 1901 college football season. In its first season under head coach A. G. Harbaugh, the team compiled a 2–1 record with victories over the University of Montana and Butte Business College. The team outscored opponents by a total of 42 to 23. Right guard Ervin was the team captain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juanita L. Learned</span> American politician

Juanita L. Learned was the first woman to chair the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes. She was Southern Arapaho and was known for her work to keep the Concho Indian School from closing, as well as actions to return the school building, and land and buildings of Fort Reno to her tribe.

Jennie R. Joe is an American academic, medical anthropologist, and fellow of the Society for Applied Anthropology. Initially trained as a nurse, she was one of the health clinic workers during Occupation of Alcatraz in 1969. She is a professor in the Departments of Family and Community Medicine and American Indian Studies at the University of Arizona. Joe was one of the inaugural board members for the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian and serves on the board of the Urban Indian Health Commission.

References

Citations

  1. ↑ The Missoulian 1972, p. 8; Cheyenne & Arapaho Births 1934; Bannon 1993, p. 162; Schontzler 2001.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 The Missoulian 1972, p. 8.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Schontzler 2001.
  4. 1 2 3 Ohles, Ohles & Ramsay 1997, p. 331.
  5. ↑ Lonelodge 2018, p. 1.
  6. 1 2 3 Bannon 1993, p. 162.
  7. ↑ Haugan 2019.
  8. 1 2 Gadbow 2000, p. 4.
  9. 1 2 Sullivan 1991, p. A7.
  10. ↑ Hamilton 1970, p. 30.
  11. ↑ The Missoulian 1986, p. 10.
  12. ↑ Blaze 1987, p. C1.
  13. ↑ Sullivan 1991, p. A1.
  14. 1 2 Rave 2004, p. 10.
  15. ↑ The Missoulian 2000, p. 14.
  16. ↑ Lonelodge 2018, pp. 1, 4.
  17. ↑ Bozeman Daily Chronicle

Bibliography

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.