Bush Foundation Fellowships

Mary Louise Defender Wilson

2009 Enduring Vision Award
North Dakota

Career Field: Traditional and Ethnic Performing Arts
Secondary Field: Storytelling

Mary Louise Defender Wilson (Wagmuhawin, “Gourd Woman”) (Dakotah/Hidatsa) grew up in a family of storytellers and midwives on the Standing Rock (Sioux) Reservation in North Dakota. Raised speaking Dakotah, she began telling her tribes’ ancient narratives as a young girl, marveling at how much her relatives knew and how tribal stories, which talked about values and human nature, taught them to think deeply. Celebrated for her gift of storytelling, she is the recipient of the coveted National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, the nation’s highest honor for a traditional artist. She also has received the H. Councill Trenholm Memorial Award from the National Education Association for Human and Civil Rights, the 2009 Community Spirit Award from First Peoples Fund, and has been honored at the Native American Music Awards with the Best Spoken Word Award. Defender Wilson teaches the Dakotah language at Standing Rock Community College in Fort Yates, ND.