Marilou Awiakta

Marilou Awiakta
Born	(1936-01-24) January 24, 1936 Knoxville
Occupation	Poet, author
Nationality	American
Alma mater	University of Tennessee B.A. magna cum laude, in English and French, 1958
Children	Three children

Marilou Awiakta, nationally and internationally known as a poet, essayist, and storyteller weaves her Cherokee and Appalachian heritages with her experience of growing up during the nuclear era in Oak Ridge, TN (a “Secret City” for atomic research) to address current issues and emphasize how important respect, harmony, and diversity are to the web of life.

Biography and career

Awiakta's work has influenced change at local, national, and international levels for cultural diversity, protection of the environment, women’s rights, and civil rights. In August 2020, she made a mark in national history as one of ten women chosen from Tennessee and 500 nationwide for USA TODAY’S Women of the Century commemorating the 19^th Amendment’s 100th anniversary giving women the right to vote.  Recognizing women who helped change and are still changing America, Dolly Parton and Pat Summitt represent some of Tennessee’s notables while nationwide examples include Oprah Winfrey, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Awards

2020    One of 10 Tennessee women and 500 nationwide chosen for USA TODAY’S Women of the Century commemorating the 19^th Amendment’s 100th anniversary giving women the right to vote

2000    Appalachian Heritage Writer's Award/Shepherd College

2017    Cynthia Pitcock Women’s History Award for Lifetime Achievement, St. Mary’s Episcopal School

2007    Outstanding Contribution to Civil Rights, University of Tennessee at Martin

1999    Award for Educational Service to Appalachia/Carson-Newman 

1999    Award for Service to American Indian People/Northeastern University/OK

1999    Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters, Albion College, Albion, MI

1997    CollegeArts Alliance Arts and Humanities Award/Germantown, TN

1991    Outstanding Contribution to Appalachian Literature/Appalachian Writers’ Association

1989    Distinguished Tennessee Writer Award/Tennessee Mountain Writers’ Association

1986    Tennessee Governor's Bicentennial Award for Service in TN’s best interests/highest traditions

1988    Woman of Vision Award/Memphis Women of Achievement

1986    Nomination as one of the 50 most important Tennessee writers by the Homecoming '86 Literary Festival, Nashville, TN

1986    "Out of Ashes Peace Will Rise" selected for the peace-mission program of the French Bateau-lyre, Le Havre, France

1983    Person of Quality Award/National Organization for Women (NOW)

1983    National Conference of Christians and Jews Award, Memphis, TN

1972    Jesse Hill Ford Award for Poetry

Books

Selu: Seeking the Corn-Mother’s Wisdom. Foreword by Wilma P. Mankiller. Golden, CO: Fulcrum Publishing, 1993.

Rising Fawn and the Fire Mystery: A Child’s Christmas in Memphis, 1833. Illustrated by Beverly Bringle. Memphis: St. Luke’s Press, 1983. Reprinted in 1992 by St. Luke’s Press. Reprinted in 2007 by Fulcrum Publishing (Golden, Colorado). 

Abiding Appalachia. Where Mountain and Atom Meet. Afterword by Parks Lanier, Jr. Memphis: St. Luke’s Press, seven printings between 1978 and 1990. Reprinted in 1995 by Iris Press (Bell Buckle, Tennessee) and in 2006 by Pocahontas Press (Blacksburg, West Virginia). Available from amazon.

Analysis

Education and Early Career: Born in Knoxville in 1936, at the age of nine Awiakta moved to Oak Ridge, a federal nuclear research center then known as the “Secret City” during World War II.  She graduated from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville (1958), receiving a BA, magna cum laude, in English and French. 

Activist and Community Leader: Using her writing to influence cultural changes at local, national, and international levels, specific causes Awiakta advocated in the 1970s included civil rights and diversity for Native Americans, African Americans, and other special interest groups.  Working with African American groups at the Blue City Cultural Center in Memphis, she helped them develop a tri-racial stage adaptation of her novella, Rising Fawn and the Fire Mystery. Focusing on peace and education activities in the 1980s, Awiakta was appointed to the Memphis Mayor’s Intercultural Commission to promote cooperation among all ethnic groups in Memphis.  In 1982, she co-founded the Far-Away Cherokee Association, which later became the Native American Inter Tribal Association, to educate people about Native American issues. Participating in Leadership Memphis in 1984, that same year she reported on the historic union of the Cherokee East and West Councils.

In the late 1980s, Awiakta’s outreach included education and women’s rights, working with the Center for Research on Women at the University of Memphis. The United Methodist Church Commissioner for West Tennessee appointed her to focus on the status and role of women, and she taught poetry workshops in the women’s prison.  She also worked in the Free Peoples’ Workshop with Etheridge Knight, co-teaching a course with him in 1987 at Rhodes College in Memphis.

A frequent and influential contributor to the cultural scene, Awiakta served on the Tennessee Arts Commission and Humanities Tennessee.  Rising Fawn and the Fire Mystery was used by the Memphis Arts Council for a citywide school program, and she served as a consultant for two musical works, the 2000 "Appalachian Harmony," written by Daniel Kingman for the national program entitled "Continental Harmony,” and Aaron Copeland’s "Appalachian Spring” in 1996.

In 1996 Awiakta worked on a national task force to integrate the sciences and humanities in the literary canon of college textbooks.  Her work is published in anthologies from MIT and the University of Alabama as well as featured in Southern Appalachian Storytellers, le journal des POETES (Belgium), Poésie première (France), and Appalachia in the Classroom (University of Ohio Press).  Examples of the numerous colleges and universities utilizing her work in their curriculum include Radford University/VA, Tufts University/MA, Emory University/GA, and the University of New Mexico/NM.

Environmental Advocate: Awiakta’s advocacy of respect for nature and protecting the environment spans her entire life. In 1978-79, she did investigative reporting for the “Houston Chronicle” and the “Dixie Flyer” during the controversial seizure of sacred Cherokee land by the Federal government to build Tellico Dam in East Tennessee. She encouraged public support for the creation of an Indian Museum on the shores of Lake Tellico and the relocation of artifacts from the most important Cherokee archaeological site in Tennessee.

She served as a consultant for the Department of the Interior’s Delta Initiative Project in 1996 and accepted speaking engagements with the World Wilderness Congress in Alaska, the Ecological Society of America, and West Virginia University’s Peace Tree Ceremony and Diversity Conference. In 2000, Radford University in Virginia honored Awiakta by asking her to name a 369 acre environmental park.  She chose to name it “The Selu Conservancy” after Selu, the mythological Cherokee corn mother who signifies the life force.  In 2001, she served on the Board of Directors of the National Parks for the State of Missouri.

Mother and Wife: Throughout her life, Awiakta has always been a devoted and loving wife and mother. Married for over 59 years, mother of three, grandmother of four, and great grandmother of two, she has taught them to look inside themselves, discover their inner souls, and establish harmony in their web of life.  Listen closely and all of us may find that “An Indian Walks In Me” (Abiding Appalachia:  Where Mountain and Atom Meet).

References: This information has been compiled by Marilou Awiakta's Literary Agent and daughter, Aleex Conner, who verified all facts for accuracy.