Charlene Teters
Charlene Teters | |
---|---|
College of Santa Fe (now Santa Fe University of Art and Design), AFA Institute of American Indian Arts | |
Known for | Installation art |
Website | http://www.charleneteters.com |
Charlene Teters (born April 25, 1952,
She was born and raised in Spokane, Washington, near the Spokane Indian Reservation.Education and activism
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).[4]
Beginning in 1984, she attended the
In 1988, she began graduate studies at the
Teters also holds an honorary doctorate in fine art from Mitchell College in New London, Connecticut. On October 10, 1997, she was honored as "Person of the Week" by Peter Jennings on the ABC World News Tonight program, for her commitment to her work and her people.[1]
In the mid-1990s Teters served as Senior Editor of Native Artist Magazine.[2] She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She retired from the Institute of American Indian Arts in September 2020, having served as Professor of Studio Art, Department Chair of Studio Arts, and then Academic Dean for Arts and Cultural Studies since 2015.[7] From 2005 through 2007, she has also served as Hugh O. LaBounty Endowed Chair of Interdisciplinary Knowledge at California State Polytechnic University in Pomona, California.[1]
Teters was the first artist-in-residence at the
National Coalition on Racism in Sports and the Media
The National Coalition on Racism in Sports and the Media (NCRSM) was formed in October 1991 at the
At the creation of the NCRSM, the board of directors consisted of eleven directors including Teters as vice-president and senior editor, Clyde Bellecourt as the national director and the late Vernon Bellecourt as the former president and national representative for the NCRSM. Their mission was and still is rooted in the belief that the use of Indian and indigenous people as athletic mascots is dehumanizing to the Native American race as it perpetuates negative connotations and inaccurate stereotypes. The ultimate goal of the NCRSM is to remove the "desecration" of their spiritual practices that use feathers, paints, dances, music and instruments in the incorrect context. Finally, the NCRSM wants to discontinue the use of the indigenous person mascots in schools because they feel it is promoting the wrong ideals and images of the Native American people and inaccurately portraying history to the youth of America.[9]
Sports teams deemed offensive
Charlene Teters and the NCRSM have listed the following schools and teams on their home page to get certain universities and institutions in America to realize that the use of indigenous people is wrong as mascots.
- Anderson High School "Redskins", Cincinnati, Ohio
- Atlanta "Braves", Georgia
- Cleveland "Indians" Chief "Wahoo", Ohio
- Florida State University "Seminoles", Florida (have been given permission from the tribe)[10]
- Marquette "Redmen" and "Redettes", Michigan
- Salmon High School "Savages", Idaho
- University of North Dakota "Fighting Sioux", North Dakota
- Washington "Redskins", Washington, DC[11]
Quote
"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."[1]
Footnotes
- ^ a b c d Mai, Uyen. "Culture Infused" Art Exhibit Presented by Cal Poly Pomona's La Bounty Chair of Interdisciplinary Applied Knowledge. California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. 8 Nov 2005 (retrieved 15 May 2009)
- ^ a b c Installation Art: Charlene Teters. Archived 2008-06-16 at the Wayback Machine Rhythms of the Globe. (retrieved 15 May 2009)
- ISBN 978-0-02-860412-1.
- ^ "Heard on Campus: Charlene Teters of the Institute of American Indian Arts". Penn State News. Pennsylvania State University. Retrieved 25 December 2018.
- ^ Spindel 2002; Rosenstein 1997
- ^ "Interview: Charlene Teters on Native American Symbols as Mascots" (PDF). Archived from the original on July 20, 2008. Retrieved April 29, 2016.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link). The NEA Higher Education Journal. 121-130 (retrieved 15 May 2009) - ^ "Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) Academic Dean and Notable Native American Activist and Artist Charlene Teters Announces Retirement". Red Lake Nation News. Retrieved 2021-03-31.
- ^ Biography for Charlene Teters. AskArt. (retrieved 15 May 2009)
- ^ a b National Coalition on Racism in Sports and Media
- ^ Florida State University thanks Seminoles for historic vote of support
- ^ Kranz, Cindy. No-mascot decision stands. Cincinnati Enquirer. 19 August 2003 (retrieved 15 May 2009)
References
- King, C. Richard, and Charles Fruehling Springwood, eds. (2001). Team Spirits: The Native American Mascots Controversy. Foreword by Vine Deloria Jr. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
- Spindel, Carol (2002). Dancing at Halftime: Sports and the Controversy Over American Indian Mascots. Updated edition, with a new afterword. New York: New York University Press.
Films
- Chief Video Documentary - The Chief and The Tradition
- In Whose Honor? (1997). Written and produced by Jay Rosenstein. Ho-ho-kus, New Jersey: New Day Films.