Author Teresa Peterson Presents in Native Authors & Artists Series

April 16, 2025

Perpich Center for Arts Education welcomed Teresa Peterson (Sisseton Wahpeton Dakota and member of the Upper Sioux Community) as our guest on April 15, 2025 in our Native Authors & Artists Series. Teresa’s work has been recognized by the Minnesota State Arts Board and Southwest Minnesota Arts Council, and “Voices of Pejuhutazizi: Dakota Stories and Storytellers,” written with her uncle, Walter “Super” LaBatte, Jr., was selected as an Understand Native Minnesota One-Read.

Teresa Peterson speaks to a gathered audience at the Native Authors & Artists Series on April 15, 2025. She is joined on stage by Mary Harding, Dance Education Specialist.

Teresa comes from a long line of storytellers and that was evident both in talking with her and in her books. She was interviewed by Mary Harding, Perpich Center’s Dance Education Specialist in the Professional Development and Resource Programs group.

The Native Authors & Artists Series of guest speakers is specifically designed to introduce K-12 educators and librarians to books by Dakota and Ojibwe authors and illustrators. Each gathering features an interview and Q&A with a guest presenter, resource lists, and includes time in the Perpich Library to peruse our extensive collection of books by Native authors. The series is hosted by Perpich’s Professional Development and Resource Programs (PDR).

Watch the interview with Teresa Peterson on our Native Authors & Artists Series webpage.

Recent Books by Teresa Peterson:

• Perennial Ceremony: Lessons and Gifts from a Dakota Garden (2024) – prose, poetry, and recipes guiding us through the Dakota seasons and lessons from Teresa’s life as a gardener, gatherer, and lover of the land
• Voices from Pejuhutazizi: Dakota Stories and Storytellers (2022), written with her uncle, Walter “Super” LaBatte Jr. – stories shared through five generations of their family; selected by the Native American One Read by the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community’s Understand Native Minnesota campaign
• Grasshopper Girl (2022) – this story includes a Dakota tale of Uŋktomi (spider), one of the trickster stories Teresa’s mother heard growing up; highly recommended by American Indians in Children’s Literature (AICL) and featured as one of Nick Jr.’s children’s books to celebrate Native American Heritage Month