Te Ata Fisher

Mary Frances Thompson Fisher (December 3, 1895 – October 26, 1995), best known as Te Ata, was an American actress and citizen of the Chickasaw Nation known for telling Native American stories. She performed as a representative of Native Americans at state dinners before President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1930s. She was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 1957 and was named Oklahoma's first State Treasure in 1987.

Name etymology Her stage name, Te Ata, means "Bearer of the morning". Some Chickasaw speakers say that her name originates from "itti' hata, an old word meaning sycamore, birch, or cottonwood, and that, in order to further accentuate her name, she changed it to "Te Ata".

Early life Te Ata was born Mary Frances Thompson in Emet, Chickasaw Nation (now in Johnston County, Oklahoma), to Thomas Benjamin Thompson, a Chickasaw, and Bertie (Freund) Thompson a German American. The name "Te Ata" is the Māori (New Zealand Indigenous) word for "the morning". It was given to her by an unknown person. "Te Ata" is not a Chickasaw word nor phrase. Te Ata began her early education in a one-room tribal school; after two years she was sent to Bloomfield Academy, a Chickasaw boarding school for girls. At Bloomfield, she met Muriel Wright, a teacher who became her role model. Te Ata graduated high school from Tishomingo, Oklahoma, where she was salutatorian.

In the fall of 1915, Te Ata began college at the Oklahoma College for Women (now the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma) in Chickasha, and graduated in 1919. During her time at Oklahoma College for Women, she worked as an assistant in the theater department for theater instructor Frances Dinsmore Davis. It was during this time that Te Ata was first introduced to the stage.

Performance career Davis encouraged Te Ata to use Native American stories as the basis for her senior performance at Oklahoma College for Women. Te Ata made her debut as an artist during her senior year of college performing songs and stories from several different tribes. The tour gave Te Ata an opportunity to travel across the United States and fostered her talents as a performer. She undertook further training in theatre at the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She then moved to New York City, where she performed in several Broadway productions; her most notable role was Andromache in The Trojan Women. She referred to McLendon as her "cousin", however it is unknown whether they were actually related or whether they knew each other prior to living in New York City. After Franklin was elected president, Te Ata performed at the White House for his first state dinner. The King and Queen then invited Te Ata to perform in England.

In addition to traveling across the United States, Te Ata visited Denmark, Sweden, Estonia, Finland, England, Peru, Guatemala, Canada, and Mexico.

Te Ata's career spanned more than 60 years, and she collected hundreds of stories from different tribes. During her performances she told numerous stories, such as "There Are Birds of Many Colors" by Hiamove, "The Creation of Mankind" told to her by her father, "How Death Came into the World", "Pasikola (Rabbit) was Disconnected", "Anybody Want a Wife?", "The Corn Ceremony", "The Blue Duck", and "Baby Rattlesnake".

Personal life On September 28, 1933, Te Ata married Dr. George Clyde Fisher in Muskogee, Oklahoma, at the Bacone College Ataloa Lodge, established by Chickasaw vocalist, educator, and friend Ataloa. Te Ata had many notable friends including First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, Jim Thorpe (Sac & Fox), and Woody Crumbo (Citizen Potawatomi). Through Dr. Fisher, she was introduced to Albert Einstein, Henry Ford, John Burroughs, Thomas Edison, E.W. Deming, Clark Wissler and Chief Buffalo Child Long Lance. She was also the niece of Douglas H. Johnston, the last governor of the old Chickasaw Nation.

Legacy and honors alt=A statue of a woman in Native American costume holding a flat drum and striking it with a mallet. In the background is a brick building. Te Ata’s life and likeness have been featured in many books, plays and magazines. In the summer of 1924, Te Ata was featured in McCall's magazine in its "Types of American Beauty" series.

Her life and performances have been commemorated through several different awards. She was the namesake for Lake Te Ata in New York. She was named the Ladies' Home Journal Woman of the Year in 1976. She was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 1957 and named Oklahoma’s Official State Treasure in 1987. In 1990, she was inducted into the Chickasaw Hall of Fame. It premiered at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma in 2006 and was performed at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of the American Indian in 2012. In 2012, Te Ata was portrayed by actress Kumiko Konishi in the film Hyde Park on Hudson, which centered on the 1939 meeting of Franklin D. Roosevelt and King George VI and Queen Elizabeth of England; in the film, Te Ata performs for the king and queen as she did in 1939.

In 2014, the Chickasaw Nation began production on a film Te Ata based on Te Ata's life. The film stars Q'orianka Kilcher and was released in October 2017.

The Oklahoma Historical Society notes that her performances are preserved in a film, "God's Drum" (circa 1971), and on a video recording of a storytelling festival sponsored by the Oklahoma City Arts Council, declaring "Te Ata Fisher's influence on the appreciation of Native traditions and on the art of storytelling is an enduring legacy."

Her alma mater, University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma (formerly the Oklahoma College for Women), has presented her with multiple honors. In 1972, she became the first inductee into the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma Hall of Fame. In 2006, USAO renamed its auditorium in Trout Hall the "Te Ata Memorial Auditorium".