She is the granddaughter of Oklahoma sharecroppers, born in 1953 and raised in a large extended family in a banjo and fiddle tradition, rich with storytelling and music. She grew up on the border between Compton and Paramount, California, where her childhood was divided between the city and camping in the Sierra Nevada mountains, pulling dinner from a lake. Of mixed descent, including Cherokee, Lenape, Seneca, German, her stories are steeped in themes of place and belonging, and are shaped and infused by her identity as a mixed-blood, and her connection to the landscape.
Photo by Lawrence K. Ho
About my life and work
I began writing and publishing in 1984. The first twenty years I wrote feature articles, essays and magazine columns. My readership grew and in 2006 I published my first book. A new path opened when I began receiving invitations to contribute essays to anthologies. Searching for a place to stand, I found my voice while writing stories steeped in themes of place and belonging, infused and shaped by my identity as a mixed-blood.
While collaborating with other authors I discovered my deep love of working with a collective of voices, with each of us telling our single story, working together to bring forth a whole book. In addition to my solo work, I’m a contributor to fifteen books in Native American and Indigenous Studies, Native literature, nonfiction and memoir.
For every success we have I believe it’s important to remember how we got there. I wouldn’t have been able to accomplish all that I have without guidance from good people who gave their time to me, mentoring, shepherding and guiding me. I owe much gratitude to my literary elders who showed me the way and taught me to grow right as an elder and to hold the door open, give back and help others where I can.
There have been years when I wrote within the nooks and crannies of my life. Balancing motherhood and writing, with a baby on my lap, the dogs sleeping at my feet, while the cat walked across my keyboard. While working as a director with American Indian Health. As a coordinator with a pediatric brain tumor organization, and the mother of a son living with a brain tumor. As a director of volunteers with Visiting Nurse and Hospice Care.
Volunteering with KAAN Korean American Adoptee Adoptive Family Network as one of the founders and early leaders, beginning in 1998 through 2016. As a coordinator in South Korea with KAAN’s Friends of Korea Family Exchange Program. At a youth crisis shelter for at-risk teens and foster youth in transition. With CASA as a Court Appointed Special Advocate for foster youth and teens. In schools, and with writers’ and storytellers’ workshops and mentoring corps.
Now, in my seventies, I’m still writing within the nooks and crannies of my life, often after mornings of wandering hills and valleys with grandkids and dogs. I give readings, sit on discussion panels, and visit with book groups.
To find more about me and my writing, please visit my website terratrevor.com
