Shirley Hill Witt
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Shirley Hill Witt (born April 17, 1934) is an
anthropologist An anthropologist is a scientist engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropologists study aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms, values ...
, educator, author,
civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...
activist, and former foreign service officer. A member of the
Akwesasne The Mohawk Nation at Akwesasne ( ; ; ) is a Mohawk Nation (''Kanienʼkehá:ka'') territory that straddles the intersection of international (United States and Canada) borders and provincial (Ontario and Quebec) boundaries on both banks of the St ...
Mohawk Nation The Mohawk, also known by their own name, (), are an Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous people of North America and the easternmost nation of the Haudenosaunee, or Iroquois Confederacy (also known as the Five Nations or later the ...
, Wolf Clan, Witt was one of the first
Native American Native Americans or Native American usually refers to Native Americans in the United States. Related terms and peoples include: Ethnic groups * Indigenous peoples of the Americas, the pre-Columbian peoples of North, South, and Central America ...
women to earn a Ph.D. She obtained her Ph.D. in
evolutionary anthropology Evolutionary anthropology, the interdisciplinary study of the human evolution, evolution of human physiology and human behaviour and of the relation between hominids and non-hominid primates, builds on natural science and on social science. Vari ...
from the
University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; ) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1889 by the New Mexico Territorial Legislature, it is the state's second oldest university, a flagship university in th ...
in 1969. Witt has published extensively on Native Americans in addition to being a poet and fiction writer. She was a founding member of the
National Indian Youth Council The National Indian Youth Council (NIYC) is the second oldest American Indian organization in the United States with a membership of more than 15,000.National Indian Youth Council, Inc."NIYC History" Retrieved on 2009-09-30. It was the second ...
and worked with them from 1961 to 1964. She also served on the United States Commission on Civil Rights.


Education

Witt received her B.A. from the
University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...
in 1965 and her M.A. from the University of Michigan in 1966. She later obtained her Ph.D. in
evolutionary anthropology Evolutionary anthropology, the interdisciplinary study of the human evolution, evolution of human physiology and human behaviour and of the relation between hominids and non-hominid primates, builds on natural science and on social science. Vari ...
from the
University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; ) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1889 by the New Mexico Territorial Legislature, it is the state's second oldest university, a flagship university in th ...
in 1969 with her dissertation "Migration into the San Juan Indian Pueblo, 1726-1968".


Career

Witt has taught at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...
(1970–1972) and
Colorado College Colorado College is a private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Founded in 1874 by Thomas Nelson Haskell in his daughter's memory, the college offers over 40 majors a ...
(1972–1974). She was the director of the Rocky Mountain Regional Office of the
U.S. Commission on Civil Rights The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (CCR) is a bipartisan, independent commission of the United States federal government, created by the Civil Rights Act of 1957 during the Eisenhower administration, that is charged with the responsibility fo ...
(1975–1983). Witt also served as the Cabinet Secretary for Natural Resources under New Mexico Governor
Toney Anaya Toney Anaya (born April 29, 1941) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 26th governor of New Mexico from 1983 to 1987. Early life and career Anaya was born on in Moriarty, New Mexico. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree fro ...
(1983–1985). In 1985, Witt joined the U.S. diplomatic corps. As an employee of the U.S. Information Agency, she worked in South America (Venezuela and Paraguay) and Africa (Somalia and Zambia). She held positions of Foreign Service Officer, Cultural Affairs Officer, Binational Center Director, and Deputy Director of U.S.I.A. In 2000, Witt was one of the plaintiffs in a sex-discrimination case against the
United States Information Agency The United States Information Agency (USIA) was a United States government agency devoted to propaganda which operated from 1953 to 1999. Previously existing United States Information Service (USIS) posts operating out of U.S. embassies wor ...
. The 1,100 women accused the agency of "manipulating the hiring process to exclude women, in some cases resorting to fraud, altering test scores and destroying personnel and test files." Witt reported waiting four years between being "led to believe that I did very well" on the hiring test in 1981 and being hired in 1985. Although the agency did not admit to any wrongdoing, each woman was awarded at least $460,000.


Activism

Witt was active in the
Indian rights movement The Red Power movement was a social movement which was led by Native Americans in the United States, Native American youth who demanded self-determination for Native Americans in the United States. Organizations that were part of the Red Power ...
during the 1960s. In 1961, she co-founded the National Indian Youth Council and served as its first vice president. Soon after, she joined protestors in the Puget Sound region in the fight to secure fishing rights guaranteed by treaty. Later that decade, she partnered with Council co-founder Herbert Blatchford to revitalize the Gallup Indian Center in New Mexico, where she was completing her PhD.


Published works

* Witt, Shirley Hill and Steiner, Stan, ''The Way: An Anthology of American Indian Literature'',
Vintage Books Vintage Books is a trade paperback publishing imprint of Penguin Random House originally established by Alfred A. Knopf in 1954. The company was acquired by Random House in April 1960, and a British division was set up in 1990. After Random Ho ...
, 1972, * Witt, Shirley Hill, ''The Tuscaroras'', Crowell-Collier Press, 1972, * Witt, Shirley Hill and Ballejos, Gilberto Chávez, ''El Indio Jesús: A Novel'',
University of Oklahoma Press The University of Oklahoma Press (OU Press) is the publishing arm of the University of Oklahoma. Founded in 1929 by the fifth president of the University of Oklahoma, William Bennett Bizzell, it was the first university press to be established ...
, 2000, * Witt, Shirley Hill and Ballejos, Gilberto Chávez, ''Tomóchic Blood'',
AuthorHouse AuthorHouse, formerly known as 1stBooks, is a self-publishing company based in the United States. AuthorHouse uses print-on-demand business model and technology. History Originally called 1stBooks, the company was founded in Bloomington, In ...
, 2006, * Shreve, Bradley G., ''Red Power Rising: The National Indian Youth Council and the Origins of Native Activism'' (foreword), University of Oklahoma Press, 2012,


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Witt, Shirley 1934 births 21st-century American women academics 21st-century American women writers 21st-century First Nations women 21st-century First Nations writers 21st-century Native American women 21st-century Native American writers American civil rights activists American women academics American women poets Canadian Mohawk activists Canadian Mohawk poets Canadian Mohawk women writers Colorado College faculty First Nations academics First Nations women academics Living people Mohawks of Akwesasne and Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe people Native American academics Native American activists Native American people from California Native American poets Native American women academics Native American women activists Native American women poets Native American women writers University of Michigan alumni University of New Mexico alumni University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill faculty Wolf Clan of the Iroquois Writers from Whittier, California