Charlene Teters 'link' -

Through her art, lecturing, and persistence, Charlene Teters has ensured that the "conqueror’s" story is no longer the only one being told, achieving a national shift in perception.

ResearchChannel 2m About Charlene I have been fortunate. As a native woman my mother cleaned houses and hospital room into her 70s, my father, a WWII Navy vetern, t... charleneteters.com Show all Silent Protests: She began protesting alone outside athletic events, holding a simple sign that read, "Indians are human beings". National Impact: Her efforts grew into a nationwide movement, leading to the creation of the National Coalition on Racism in Sports and the Media (NCRSM) in 1991. Documentary: Her journey and the controversy at the University of Illinois were immortalized in the award-winning PBS documentary In Whose Honor? by Jay Rosenstein. Art as an Intervention For Teters, art is not merely a commercial product but a "ceremony" intended to provoke deep discussion and healing. Her installations often use familiar objects to disarm viewers and force them to confront the violence and appropriation embedded in American history. Notable Work Description Obelisk: To the Heroes A full-scale replica of a Santa Fe monument, embedded with personal mementos to honor lives lost to genocide. The American Holocaust A tragic adobe sculpture evoking mass graves and the historical genocide of Native peoples. Way of Sorrows An installation addressing modern injustices, featuring a life-sized figure of Teters in an emergency foil blanket to highlight the treatment of children at the border. Academic and Professional Legacy Beyond her activism, Teters has had a distinguished career in academia. She served as the Academic Dean and a Professor of Art at the Institute of American Indian Arts before her retirement in 2020. She continues to lecture internationally, advocating for a shift in perception that recognizes Indigenous people as contemporary, multi-dimensional human beings rather than relics of the past. Would you like to explore charlene teters

While her activism is widely recognized, Teters’ primary vehicle for change has always been her art. She describes herself as a "visual truth-teller." Her work spans painting, digital art, and installation, often deconstructing the romanticized "Noble Savage" imagery that permeates American pop culture. Through her art, lecturing, and persistence, Charlene Teters

: She holds an Associate of Fine Arts from the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) , a B.F.A. from the College of Santa Fe , and an M.F.A. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign . charleneteters