BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

Mary Theresa Foote (John) was born on the Spirit Lake Nation to Adriane Foote (Three Affiliated Tribes) and Maridelia Longie (Spirit Lake Tribe).  She lived with her grandparents, Henry and Agnes Longie, until the age of six, and moved to the Fargo-Moorhead area when her mother married.  Mary attended St. Mary’s Parochial School and graduated from Shanley High School.  Mary graduated from MSUM with a degree in American Studies in 1995.

While at MSUM, Mary was editor of The Messenger, a Minority Student Affairs newsletter, and served as secretary for the MSU American Indian Student Association.  She also served as chairperson for the Tri-College Pow-Wow Committee.  Mary was also president of the Parent Committee for JOM/Title V Indian Student Programs for the Moorhead School District, and secretary for the Red River Indian Association board.  She was also editor of Red River Times and the Daughters of the Earth newsletter.

Mary also helped organize the Daughters of the Earth, a Native American women’s group, in 1989.

In 1997, Mary began production of All My Relatives, a documentary about her family’s history and the oral history of the Spirit Lake Nation.  In 2002, All My Relatives earned the Fargo Film Festival’s “Best Feature Film” in the Native Voices category.

In this interview, Mary describes some of the hardships and obstacles growing up in the Fargo-Moorhead area.  While reflecting that Fargo-Moorhead has improved in race relations, she states that she doesn’t believe that it will ever be one hundred percent racism-free.  Mary also shares some personal information regarding her son and the important impact he has had on her life.

Mary John was interviewed on April 28, 2004 by Kayla Soper, Jackie Hockett, and James Sander

SAMPLES FROM THE INTERVIEW

ON GROWING UP ON THE RESERVATION:

'But we didn’t experience racism back home because we all, it was all, it was on a reservation and everybody was Indian and even the way people thought and felt about each other was different.  We came from our grandparents who were really close really close to us and our neighbors were really close too, even though they lived a ways.  They would come in team of horses or come and visit us and there was always an event.  Whereas [here] you’re living right next to people and you don’t even know them."

ON HER FILM, ALL MY RELATIVES:

"All My Relatives is a prayer and it’s, it’s acknowledging the connection between everything that was created by our Creator.  Like he created the trees and the animals and whatever.  So we’re all related to that because we have the same Creator.  So that was one reason I named it that.  Then, ah, because it was about my relatives from the past and, hopefully, I was hoping it would help the future generations, too."

INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT

LISTEN TO INTERVIEW