LAURA WATERMAN WITTSTOCK:

Laura Waterman Wittstock was born on September 11, 1937 to parents Isaac and Clarinda Waterman on the Cattaraugus Reservation in western New York. She had four elder brothers, and was a citizen of the Seneca Nation and a member of the Heron Clan. At the age of eight, she moved to Hawaii to live with her elder brother William, who served in the Army and was married to a local Hawaiian. There she spent her adolescent years, and became involved with radio and news programming as a student at Kaimuki High School in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Wittstock relocated to San Francisco, California to live with her mother after high school. She attended San Francisco State College from 1960 to 1961, studying English and literature. In 1971, she joined the Indian Legal Information Development Services (ILIDS) in Washington, D.C., where she worked as Editor for Legal Review, a monthly journal focused on American Indian legal issues. She additionally worked as a copywriter for the department store chain Hecht Company.

In 1973, Wittstock relocated to Minneapolis, Minnesota to take a grant-funded library and media project with the National Indian Education Association (NIEA). There she served as Designer and Director for Project MEDIA, producing print materials focused on Native American communities for research and dissemination. In the same period, Wittstock wrote grants, developed Ojibwe language programs, and eventually served as an Associate Director for the Red School House, a Native American survival school founded in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1972. She also served as the Executive Director for the American Indian Press Association (AIPA).

From 1976 to mid-1980s, Wittstock's roles expanded with numerous jobs as an independent consultant and education specialist, including: Director of Development and Needs Assessment of the Jule Fairbanks Aftercare Residence, Inc.; Adult Education Evaluator for the Minneapolis American Indian Center; Evaluator and Director for the Heart of the Earth Survival School (Minneapolis, Minnesota); and Program Designer and Fundraiser for American Indian Opportunities for Industry Center (AIOIC).

In 1977, Wittstock began meeting regularly with a group of University of Minnesota students and Native American journalists, which led to her co-founding of the non-profit MIGIZI Communications, Inc. in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The organization was founded to "counter misrepresentation of Native people and empower Native youth through journalism, media training, and academic support." Laura Waterman Wittstock served as the organization's President, helping to develop and produce broadcast programs such as the Native American Program aired on KUOM-AM and KQRS-FM (1977), First Person Radio (FPR) (1983-1992), language arts curriculum and radio program The Cloud Family Collection (1985-1990), the public affairs program Madagimo (1982) aired weekly on KARE-TV, and the National Native Internet Communications (replaced First Person Radio (FPR) in 1993).

In the 1990s, Wittstock diversified MIGIZI by developing more educational, youth development, and health services programming, including the establishment of the The Family Education Center (mid-1990s), the opening of the Native Arts High School and Minnesota Transitions Charter School (2000), and the opening of the Running Wolf Fitness Center (2000). Wittstock led the organization until her retirement in 2004.

In addition to MIGIZI, Wittstock continued to work as an independent consultant, education specialist, and evaluator for numerous local Native communities, government agencies, and non-profit organizations throughout her career. She also served on numerous boards and committees in similar organizations, including the Native American Public Telecommunications, the Minneapolis Foundation, Greater Minneapolis Metropolitan Housing Corporation, Rainbow Research, and the American Indian Business Development Corporation. In 1980, President Jimmy Carter appointed Laura to the National Commission on Alcoholism and Alcohol Problems. In 2002, Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak appointed Wittstock to the Minneapolis Public Library Board of Trustees. In 2010, Wittstock revived the radio program First Person Radio on KFAI Radio.

As a writer, Wittstock published the following books: Ininatig's gift of sugar: traditional Native sugarmaking (1993); Changing communities, changing foundations: The story of the diversity efforts of twenty community foundations (1998); and We are still here: a photographic history of the American Indian Movement, which was co-published with photographer Dick Bancroft (2013). She additionally wrote articles for numerous publications.

In her personal life, Wittstock was married twice: first to Olivera Simas and later to Floyd Wittstock. She had five children: Arthur Waterman Simas, James Olivera Simas, Tedi Marie Grey Owl, and Rosy Marie Simas.

Laura Waterman Wittstock died on January 16, 2021 at the age of eighty three after a long battle with an autoimmune disease.

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The first three sections of the papers document Wittstock's early career years in Minnesota, including working with the National Indian Education Association (1973-1975) and the American Indian Movement (AIM) founded survival schools of the Red School House (1970-1980) and the Heart of the Earth Survival School (1979-1985).

The largest portion of the papers consists of published reports, project files, and board records for numerous Native American communities, organizations, government agencies, and non-profits that Wittstock worked for as a journalist, education consultant, evaluator, designer, director, or served as a board member over her four decade career (1971-2010s). Notable sets of files include: records related to Wittstock's journalism work as Editor with the Indian Legal Information Development Services (ILIDS) (1972-1973) and Executive Director for the American Indian Press Association (AIPA) (1975); administrative records related to her work as a Fundraiser and Program Designer for the American Indian Opportunities for Industry Center (AIOIC) (1979-1985); administrative records related to Wittstock's co-founding and her leadership as President for MIGIZI Communications (1974-2004); and records related to her role on the Board of Directors of the Native American Public Telecommunications, Inc. (NAPT) (2007-2011).

The last section includes Wittstock's articles and editorials for various local and national newspapers and journals, her personal writings and speeches, project files and promotional materials for her book publications, and publications that Wittstock was featured or profiled in for her work and legacy (1971-2020).

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These papers are organized into the following sections:

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Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Laura Waterman Wittstock Papers. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Accession Information:

Accession number: 18,005

Processing Information:

Processed by: Leif Kopietz, September 2025

Catalog ID number: 9989886540104294

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Includes administrative and planning records, memos, minutes, research, proposals, newsletters, guides, brochures, bibliographies and educational instructional materials produced by the National Indian Education Association (NIEA) and Project MEDIA, which Wittstock led as Director and Designer. Interfiled among the NIEA materials are press kits, reference, and research materials regarding the American Indian Movement trials (1973-1974) and materials related to U.S. federal education funding rules and regulations following the passage of the Indian Education Act of 1972 (1975-1977).

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Laura Waterman Wittstock was an early supporter of Red House School. The school was an accredited Native American survival school founded in 1972 by the American Indian Movement (AIM) in the Frogtown neighborhood of St. Paul, Minnesota as an alternative to the public school system and federally funded Bureau of Indian Affairs schools. Wittstock wrote grants to help fund projects and programming for the school and performed evaluations, needs assessments, and served as the Associate Director and Designer to help develop staffing, administration, curriculum, and programming for the school.

The records include: background information on the founding of the school; press releases; Board minutes from Red School (1975-1977) and the St. Paul American Indian Movement (1971-1974), evaluations, needs assessment, and grant information; project and programming information; correspondence; and teaching materials.

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The Heart of the Earth Survival School was founded by the American Indian Movement (AIM) leader Clyde Bellacourt in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1972. Laura Waterman Wittstock served as an Evaluator and Director for the school, helping to obtain funds for numerous grant projects and developing the curriculum and programming of the school.

The records include: grant applications and information for projects and programs (1979-1986); evaluation reports; administrative records, including project and planning documentation, objectives, staff training, memos, budgets, reports, and Board and weekly meeting minutes (1979-1985); curriculum; and Ojibwe language materials.

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This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:

Indian activists -- Minnesota.

Indians of North America -- Social conditions.

Indians of North America -- Education -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis.

Indians of North America -- Education -- Minnesota -- Saint Paul.

Indians of North America -- Languages -- Writing.

Indians of North America -- Poetry.

Journalists -- Minnesota.

Alternative schools -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis.

Alternative schools -- Minnesota -- Saint Paul.

Persons:

Wittstock, Lloyd, author.

Bellecourt, Clyde H. (Clyde Howard), 1936-2022, author.

Organizations:

American Indian Movement, author.

Heart of the Earth Survival School, author.

Juel Fairbanks Aftercare Residence, author.

Red School House (Saint Paul, Minn.), author.

St. Paul American Indian Movement, author.

Native American Public Telecommunications, Inc., author.

Migizi Communications, author.

National Indian Education Association, author.

American Indian Press Association, author.

Document Types:

Photographs.

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