Mary TallMountain

Mary TallMountain (June 19, 1918 – September 2, 1994) was a poet and storyteller of mixed Scotch-Irish and Koyukon ancestry. Her works deal with the interplay of Christianity with indigenous beliefs and the difficulties of her own life. Before her mother died from Tuberculosis she was adopted by a white couple where she faced prejudice among whites. Her experience with alcoholism and as a victim of prejudice and child abuse is expressed in the theme of struggle and healing in her work. She started her working career as a legal secretary and began writing around age 50 when she was a contributor to the Native American Renaissance. She eventually owned her own stenography business, which she lost while battling cancer. Her final years were spent in a poor, inner-city neighborhood in San Francisco, where she founded the Tenderloin Women Writers Workshop. She lived in San Francisco until her death in 1994. 2Early life Mary TallMountain was born on June 18, 2017 in Nulato, Alaska, to a mother of Russian and Native American heritage, and a father of Irish-Scottish descent, who was an American soldier. She was born to the Athabascan tribe, which is believed to be one of the original tribes that came over to Alaska via land bridge from Asi