Interviewer
Hannah Soukup
Files
Description
Tobie Weist discusses how her work on the Northern Cheyenne reservation influenced her anthropology career. She describes the poverty on the reservation and how she and her husband struggled to become accepted within the community. She talks about her research on suicide rates and causes among the tribe. Weist notes her hesitance to teach indigenous studies at the University of Montana because she wasn’t an expert on the subject and isn’t indigenous. She compares her interactions with the Northern Cheyenne tribe to those with the communities in Botswana and Tanzania, noting the various difference and similarities. Weist talks at length about her work in Tanzania interviewing over 100 women. She recalls her extensive post-retirement volunteerism, serving for the Red Cross in Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina, working for the Peace Corps in South Africa, and working with local Missoula organizations to provide help in elementary schools and to help individuals displaced by forest fires. She concludes by talking about her family—children, grandchildren and greatgrandchildren. She also reflects on anthropology as a 21st century profession and how the study of indigenous cultures should be approached.
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Document Type
Oral History
Subjects
Subjects: Women anthropologists; Women anthropologists – Biography; Women anthropologists – Interviews; Anthropology; Anthropology--Montana; Native American women; Indigenous women; Indian women – Great Plains; Cheyenne women; Kinship systems; Cheyenne Indians -- Social life and customs; Indians of North America – Montana; Tsis tsis'tas; Cheyenne Nation; Indians of North America -- Rites and ceremonies; Tanzanian women; Anthropology – Tanzania; Sex discrimination; Gender identity; Sex role; Man-woman relationships; Peace Corps; Volunteers; Hurricane Katrina; Forest fires
Personal Names: Katherine M. Weist, 1937- ; Thomas Weist; John Woodenlegs, -1981; Belle Highwalking, 1892-1971
Corporate Names: University of Montana—Missoula
Geographical Names: Missoula (Mont.); Lame Deer (Mont.); Tanzania; Nigeria; South Africa; Louisiana
Occupations: Anthropologists--Montana
Original Date
10-5-2020
Time Period
Twentieth century
Geographic Coverage
Montana
Language
eng
Original Collection
Katherine "Tobie" Weist Oral History Project, OH 471
Holding Institution
University of Montana. Mansfield Library. Archives and Special Collections
Digital Publisher
University of Montana--Missoula. Mansfield Library
Rights Statement
Rights Holder
Copyright to this collection is held by the interview participants and by the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, University of Montana-Missoula. Permission may be required for use. For more information, please contact Archives and Special Collections at the University of Montana, Mansfield Library.
Oral History Number
OH 471-003
Media Type
Sound; Text
Original Format
1 MP3 file (01:30:52): digital + 1 transcript (20 pp.: 28 cm.)
Digital Format
audio/mp3; application/pdf
Run Time
01:30:52 minutes
Local Filename
OH_473_001.mp3; OH_471_003.pdf
Citation
Weist, Katherine "Tobie", "Katherine "Tobie Weist Interview, October 5, 2020" (2020). Katherine "Tobie" Weist Oral History Project. 3.
https://scholarworks.umt.edu/tobieweist_oralhistory/3