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Biography
Theresa Hatathlie-Delmar is a member of the Navajo nation, who belongs to the Deer Springs and Salt Clans. She is a co-founder of the grassroots organization Yee Ha’ólníi Doo DBA and a collaborator with the Auntie Sewing Squad. Learning to sew and weave from her parents, Hatathlie-Delmar organized to provide masks, food, water and medical supplies to Navajo and Hopi reservations during COVID-19 pandemic.
Thematic Summary
(00:00:00) Theresa Hatathlie-Delmar dispels the myth that reservations are impoverished, and rather, her life, family and background while growing up on the reservation in Arizona was very rich with Indigenous culture and traditions. (00:12:13) She explains why she does not use the term Native or American, but chooses to use the term Indigenous. She also shares about how her parents rejected their children’s forced enrollment in boarding schools. (00:22:24.15) Hatathlie-Delmar describes how the pandemic highlighted the inadequacies of broken promises and treaties with the federal government. (00:32:09) She narrates how she and 11 other women took the initiative to raise money for supplies and materials needed at the very start of the pandemic. (00:38:35.19) Hatathlie-Delmar explains how the federal government gave defective masks to indigenous communities, how she had already been sewing for her etsy store DeerSpringsCreationsEtsy.com, and how Kristina Wong answered her call for seamstresses. (00:49:12.04) Hatathlie-Delmar credits her role as a woman and mother, her faith, and her upbringing for why she (and other Indigenous women) stepped up during the crisis. (00:58:42.09) Finally, she describes her work as a logistics coordinator for the grassroots organization Yee Ha’ólníi Doo DBA.
Interview Date
12-8-2021
Interviewer
Ash Appleby; Kayla Hamilton
Recommended Citation
Hatathlie-Delmar, Theresa, "Interview with Theresa Hatathlie-Delmar" (2021). Auntie Sewing Squad Interviews. 64.
https://digitalcommons.csumb.edu/auntiesewing_interviews/64
