Jean Chaudhuri
{{short description|American community leader}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Jean Chaudhuri
| image = JeanChaudhuri1971.png
| alt = A smiling young Native American woman, dark hair in a white headband
| caption = Jean Chaudhuri, from a 1971 newspaper
| other_names =
| birth_name = Ella Jean Hill
| birth_date = May 29, 1937
| birth_place = Okemah, Oklahoma
| death_date = February 17, 1997
| death_place = Tempe, Arizona
| occupation = Community leader, writer, activist
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
| spouse(s) =
| relatives =
}}
Ella Jean Hill Chaudhuri (May 29, 1937 – February 17, 1997) was an American community leader, activist, and author. She was a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, executive director of the Tucson Indian Center, and director of the Traditional Indian Alliance. She was inducted into the Arizona Women's Hall of Fame posthumously, in 2013.
Early life
Ella Jean Hill was born in Okemah, Oklahoma, the daughter of Wilbur Hill and Mary Anna Hill.{{Cite news|date=1972-04-16|title=Indian Heritage is Topic|pages=51|work=Tallahassee Democrat|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/82792089/indian-heritage-is-topic/|access-date=2021-08-04|via=Newspapers.com}} She was a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation,{{Cite news|last=Datt|first=Carol Ann|date=1972-02-06|title=Mom's an Activist|pages=41|work=Tallahassee Democrat|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/82789593/moms-an-activistcarol-ann-datt/|access-date=2021-08-04|via=Newspapers.com}} and spoke Creek as her first language.{{Cite news|last=Winters|first=John A.|date=1972-09-22|title=Freedom Fires Indian Activist|pages=91|work=Tucson Daily Citizen|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/82790215/freedom-fires-indian-activistjohn-a/|access-date=2021-08-04|via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite web|title=Jean Chaudhuri|url=https://www.azwhf.org/copy-of-pauline-bates-brown|access-date=2021-08-04|website=AWHF|language=en}} She graduated from Central High School in Tulsa in 1955, and attended Oklahoma City University, where she met her husband.
Career
Chaudhuri was involved in a variety of programs for and by Native Americans in Oklahoma,{{Cite news|date=1970-07-08|title=Indian Tribes Meet Tonight|pages=6|work=Tallahassee Democrat|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/82792795/indian-tribes-meet-tonight/|access-date=2021-08-04|via=Newspapers.com}} Florida,{{Cite news|date=1971-10-29|title=Indian Meet is Set|pages=13|work=Tallahassee Democrat|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/82791504/indian-meet-is-set/|access-date=2021-08-04|via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news|date=1971-03-14|title=Indian is Topic|pages=49|work=Tallahassee Democrat|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/82791586/indian-is-topic/|access-date=2021-08-04|via=Newspapers.com}} and Arizona. In 1972, she ran unsuccessfully for city commissioner in Tallahassee.{{Cite news|last=Datt|first=Carol Ann|date=1972-02-06|title=Activist Mom (continued)|pages=46|work=Tallahassee Democrat|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/82789822/activist-mom-continuedcarol-ann-datt/|access-date=2021-08-04}}{{Cite news|date=1972-02-13|title=Jean Chaudhuri|pages=24|work=Tallahassee Democrat|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/82790686/jean-chaudhuri/|access-date=2021-08-04|via=Newspapers.com}} She was executive director of the Tucson Indian Center, and director of the Traditional Indian Alliance of Greater Tucson.{{Cite news|last=Harris|first=Pat|date=1975-08-22|title=Fashion History Traced by Indians|pages=21|work=Tucson Citizen|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/82789470/fashion-history-traced-by-indianspat/|access-date=2021-08-04|via=Newspapers.com}} Under her leadership, the Alliance founded a health clinic in Tucson,{{Cite news|last=Sortore|first=Nancy|date=1975-06-08|title=New Directions for Urban Indians|pages=65|work=Arizona Daily Star|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/82790797/new-directions-for-urban-indiansnancy/|access-date=2021-08-04|via=Newspapers.com}} and dance classes organized by her sister, Richinda Sands.{{Cite news|last=English|first=Sandal|date=1974-02-25|title=Indians Dance to Preserve Tribes' Cultural Heritage|pages=9|work=Arizona Daily Star|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/82792473/indians-dance-to-preserve-tribes/|access-date=2021-08-04|via=Newspapers.com}} In 1979, she came under FBI scrutiny when some Alliance members charged that she had mishandled funds.{{Cite news|last=Vigil|first=Maria I.|date=1979-02-14|title=Dissidents in Indian Alliance Put Issues Before Sandwiches|pages=38|work=Tucson Citizen|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/82791027/dissidents-in-indian-alliance-put/|access-date=2021-08-04|via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news|last=Vigil|first=Maria I.|date=1979-02-14|title=Indian Dissidents Stop in For Lunch (continued)|pages=40|work=Tucson Citizen|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/82791241/indian-dissidents-stop-in-for-lunch/|access-date=2021-08-04|via=Newspapers.com}}
In Phoenix, she was president of the Arizona chapter of Indian Women in Progress (IWP).{{Cite news|date=1991-06-26|title=Big Park Sought at Indian School|pages=11|work=Arizona Republic|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/82791974/big-park-sought-at-indian-school/|access-date=2021-08-04|via=Newspapers.com}} She was founder and co-chair of the Native American Heritage Preservation Coalition,{{Cite news|last1=Chaudhuri|first1=Jean|last2=Chee|first2=Ben|date=1994-02-08|title=Heritage Park is Success Thanks to Native Americans|pages=17|work=Arizona Republic|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/12698242/arizona-republic/|access-date=2021-08-04|via=Newspapers.com}} and was active with the Phoenix Indian School Preservation Coalition Project. Chaudhuri wrote and produced a musical comedy, Indians Discover Christopher Columbus, in 1992. She also wrote and performed a one-woman play titled Four Seasons of an Indian Woman's Life. She and her husband wrote A Sacred Path: the Way of the Muscogee Creeks (2001), which he completed and published after her death.{{Cite book|last=Chaudhuri|first=Jean|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/45763939|title=A sacred path : the way of the Muscogee Creeks|date=2001|publisher=UCLA American Indian Studies Center|others=Joyotpaul Chaudhuri, Los Angeles. American Indian Studies Center University of California|isbn=0-935626-54-9|location=Los Angeles, Calif.|oclc=45763939}}{{Cite web|last=Collins|first=Reba Neighbors|date=2001-04-29|title=Text gives scathing look at Indians' treatment|url=https://oklahoman.com/article/2739186/text-gives-scathing-look-at-indians-treatment/|access-date=2021-08-04|website=The Oklahoman|language=en-US}}
Chaudhuri received the Jefferson Award from the American Institute of Public Service in 1977.{{Cite news|date=1977-05-23|title=Indian Worker Receives National Award|pages=1|work=Arizona Daily Star|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/82792146/indian-worker-receives-national-award/|access-date=2021-08-04|via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news|date=1978-01-25|title=People Helping Other People|pages=22|work=Arizona Daily Star|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/82792621/people-helping-other-people/|access-date=2021-08-04|via=Newspapers.com}} Among several posthumous honors,{{Cite news|date=2003-01-18|title=8 Receive Valley Civil Rights Honors|pages=3|work=Arizona Republic|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/82792274/8-receive-valley-civil-rights-honors/|access-date=2021-08-04|via=Newspapers.com}} she was inducted into the Arizona Women's Hall of Fame in 2013.
Personal life
In 1957,{{Cite news|date=1957-12-03|title=Marriage Licenses|pages=4|work=The Daily Oklahoman|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/82788871/marriage-licenses/|access-date=2021-08-04|via=Newspapers.com}} Ella Jean Hill married Joyotpaul Chaudhuri (1933–2020), a political science professor born in India.[https://www.tempemortuary.com/obituaries/print?o_id=6943477 Joy Chaudhuri (obituary)], Tempe Mortuary. They had two sons, Joydev and Jonodev. She died from complications of diabetes in 1997, aged 59 years, in Tempe, Arizona.{{Cite news|date=1997-02-21|title=Obituary for Jean Chaudhuri (Aged 59)|pages=100|work=Arizona Republic|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/82786590/obituary-for-jean-chaudhuri-aged-59/|access-date=2021-08-04|via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news|last=Amparano|first=Julie|date=1997-02-20|title=Indian Activist's Death Leaves Work Unfinished|pages=1|work=Arizona Republic|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/82790041/indian-activists-death-leaves-work/|access-date=2021-08-04|via=Newspapers.com}} Her son Jonodev Osceola Chaudhuri was named chairman of the National Indian Gaming Commission in 2014,U. S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, [https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-113shrg92196/html/CHRG-113shrg92196.htm Nomination of Jonodev Osceola Chaudhuri to be Chairman of the National Indian Gaming Commission] (November 12, 2014). and in 2019 he became ambassador for the Muscogee (Creek) Nation in Washington, D.C.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=May 8, 2019|title=Chaudhuri named Muscogee (Creek) Nation Ambassador|url=https://indiancountrytoday.com/the-press-pool/chaudhuri-named-muscogee-creek-nation-ambassador|access-date=2021-08-04|website=Indian Country Today|language=en}}
References
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Category:People from Okemah, Oklahoma
Category:20th-century American women writers
Category:Muscogee (Creek) Nation people