Native American Women

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Martha BerryMartha Berry was born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She is a registered tribal citizen of the Cherokee Nation. Berry's grandmother and mother taught her how to sew and embroider at age five. She made her own clothes by age nine. When she was 20, she became a professional seamstress. She has expanded her skills by developing elaborate beadwork art. She taught herself the lost art of Cherokee beadwork by studying photographs of artifacts and examining Cherokee beaded artifacts at the Smithsonian Institution.
A needle and thread have been Martha Berry’s instruments since age 5. Sewing with her maternal grandmother bloomed into a career as a seamstress and then as a Cherokee beadwork artist. This past August, the former Tulsan now living in Tyler, Texas, was honored as a Cherokee National Living Treasure.

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Robbie PaulWhen Robbie Paul first joined Washington State University almost 20 years ago, it was the beginning of a journey that led her to a PhD, a new-found belief in herself, and a mission to inspire and empower others to pursue higher education.
A member of the Nez Perce Tribe, Paul joined the WSU College of Nursing in 1995 to head up Native American recruitment and retention, including efforts to plan and organize a two-week summer camp program for Native American high school students interested in pursuing nursing careers. That program has since been expanded to cover other health science disciplines and is now known as the Na-ha-shnee Native American Health Science Institute.
During her tenure, 56 Native American nurses have graduated from WSU, including eight with master's degrees.

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Barbara McAlisterBarbara McAlister (born 1941) is an internationally acclaimed mezzo soprano Native American opera singer from Muskogee, Oklahoma. She is an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation, a descendant of Old Tassel.

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Sunny DooleyWhen I started storytelling, it was the first time these stories were told by a Navajo person. That was thirty years ago. Since then, I’ve worked – as a storyteller, folklorist and cultural consultant – collecting, learning and retelling the oral tradition of the Diné Hozhojii Hané (Navajo Blessingway stories). These stories present the world view of the Diné people and details their relationship with their surroundings. I have retold these stories by oral tradition in Navajo and in English for a variety of organizations, universities, elementary schools and conferences throughout the US, Canada, Africa, Europe and Mexico including the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian, the Denver Arts Museum, Museum of Indian Arts and Culture.

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Debra MullerDebra Muller assumed a key role in preservation of the Norton Mounds, a landmark historic site in Grand Rapids that contains burial artifacts more than 2,000 years old.
She served as chairwoman and commissioner with the City of Grand Rapids Community Relations Commission. She was founder of the Theater of the Three Fires and served as board member and chairwoman. She also established the Pink Shawls Project to make Native American women more aware of the threat of breast cancer.
She very strongly believed in equal opportunity for all. She not only talked but she truly walked it. She was a very strong voice for the Native American community in the public schools. She was able to bridge the gap between the Native American community and the larger community.

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MorningStar AngelineMorningStar Angeline, born as MorningStar Angeline Wilson-Chippewa, was born in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA to Rita Rose Wilson and Ethan Sean Chippewa. Her ancestry includes Native American tribes Shoshoni, Blackfoot, Nez Perce, Blackfoot, Chippewa Cree, as well as Mexican American and European.
She attended Pierce Community College and studied acting, philosophy and photo journalism.
In 2014, Ms. Angeline won Best Supporting Actress from the American Indian Film Festival for her role in Drunktown's Finest which also won Best Film.

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Amber MidthunderAmber Midthunder is an enrolled tribal member of the Ft Peck Sioux Indian Reservation. Her first speaking role in a feature film was in a scene with Alan Arkin just days before winning his Oscar when she was only 8 years old. Since that time she has continued her work as an actress in film and television as well as co-writing and co-directing her first award winning short film at the age of 16. As proud as she is of her Native American heritage Midthunder is enthusiastic about making films that cross cultural borders, break boundaries, and address contemporary issues.

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Mary SpencerMary Spencer (born December 12, 1984) is a Canadian boxer who currently competes as a 75 kilogram middleweight. She has won three World Championships, one Pan American Games gold medal, and eight Canadian Championships. Spencer began serious boxing training in 2002. As of July 26, 2011, her amateur record is 115 wins, 9 losses. Spencer was born in Wiarton, Ontario and currently lives in Windsor. She is a member of the Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation.

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Melissa CodyMelissa Cody was born in 1983 and is a fourth generation weaver. Her mother Lola Cody and grandmother Martha Schultz are both well known weavers. She made her first weaving at the age of 5 under her mother’s guidance and has been weaving ever since. She grew up on the Navajo Reservation in Leupp, Arizona but the family also moved around the southwest for her father’s job as a carpenter. She moved to Santa Fe to study studio arts and museum studies at the American Indian Arts Institute where she earned an associate’s and bachelor’s degrees. She was profiled in the December 2010 issue of “Western Art Collector”.

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Irene BedardIrene Bedard (born July 22, 1967) is an American actress.Bedard was born in Anchorage, Alaska, and is of Inupiat, Yupik, Inuit, Cree and Métis ancestry. Her first role was as Mary Crow Dog in the television production, Lakota Woman: Siege at Wounded Knee, which depicted the 1970s standoff between police and Native Americans, many of the Pine Ridge Reservation, at Wounded Knee, South Dakota. She is probably best known as the voice of the eponymous heroine in the Disney animated film Pocahontas and its direct-to-video sequel Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World. Bedard was also the physical model for the character. She appeared in a different take of the story inTerence Malick's 2005 film The New World, as Pocahontas's mother, Nonoma Winanuske Matatiske. Bedard attended The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where she studied Musical Theater. In 2005, she was cast in the television mini-series Into the West, portraying the half-Lakota, half-white adult Margaret "Light Shines" Wheeler.

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Debra MorningstarDebra Morningstar-Native American storyteller & cultural presenter, is an enrolled member of the Oneida Tribe of Indians (Turtle Clan) and professional Storyteller. Debra has presented Native storytelling performances, cultural residencies, and workshops at festivals, schools, conferences, libraries and museums across the U.S. and Canada for the past 23 years.

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Elaine MilesElaine Miles (born April 7, 1960, in Pendleton, Oregon of Cayuse/Nez Perce ancestry) is an American actress best known for her role as Marilyn Whirlwind in the television series Northern Exposure.
Since Northern Exposure she has done tours with her dancing and stand-up comedy, has emceed at numerous Pow-wows, and had roles in independent films such as Smoke Signals, Skins and The Business of Fancy Dancing.