Minnesota Now and Then: American Indian Women's Caucus member looks back on the first ever National Women's Conference

INTERVIEWER: Hey, time for some history in our latest installment of Minnesota Now and Then. It was 44 years ago this month in 1977 when 15,000 people attended the National Women's Conference in a hotel in Houston, Texas. It was the first and only Women's Conference approved of and funded by the federal government. The goal? Create a women's agenda and a plan of action to be submitted to Congress and the president.

Bonnie Wallace was there. She's a feminist and an enrolled member of the Fond Du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. She was part of the American Indian Women's Caucus at the event. And she joins us right now to look back at this historic bit of history. Welcome back. I should say welcome to the show, Bonnie. Welcome to Minnesota Now. It's a pleasure. Thank you.

BONNIE WALLACE: Oh, [OJIBWE] all my friends out there. [OJIBWE] for having me today. That's thank you in Ojibwe.

INTERVIEWER: Thank you. It's nice to hear your voice. And thank you for that welcome. Set the scene for us. We were talking about the '70s. 1972, Supreme Court had given unmarried women the right to use birth control. '73 it passed Roe v. Wade. Gosh, the Equal Rights Amendment. looked like it might pass. The women's rights movement was flowering. What was the mood back then?

BONNIE WALLACE: Well, the mood back then was-- I think, so many of us almost became overwhelmed because we had so much work to do. And as time went by, it was obvious that the American Indian population was sort of left out of the picture. And true, we are a small population in this country. But to be totally ignored was very painful.

And so we had to really step up. And of course, that first step was attending the state meeting in St. Cloud. And a small group of us went, maybe five. And we represented. We had a nonprofit group called American Indian Women of Minnesota.

I was the vice chair. And so five of us went over to St. Cloud. And they refused to recognize us as a legitimate organization. And so we held a walkout. I mean, it wasn't a big one, but it was a walkout. It didn't make the news and the newspapers.

And then we had to, well, what's plan B? And so I put a call in to Corinne Harvell who was the chair of the National Democratic Committee here in Minnesota. And she was also very involved in the big meeting in Houston. And so we hooked up.

And I did let her know what happened in St. Cloud. And she remembered that. And she apologized and guaranteed that our little group from Minnesota would make it down to Houston, which we did.

INTERVIEWER: OK. And looking at the list of women attending in Houston, it was like a who's who of famous women. Who do you remember meeting?

BONNIE WALLACE: Oh. Oh, my god.

INTERVIEWER: I know.

BONNIE WALLACE: Well, I mean, Gloria Steinem, first of all, who was wonderful, Bella Abzug, Rosalynn Carter. Lady Bird Johnson, and her daughters were there, Jean Stapleton, Shirley Chisholm, Loretta-- no, is that Loretta King? Am I--

INTERVIEWER: Coretta Scott King?

BONNIE WALLACE: Coretta Scott King, excuse me.

INTERVIEWER: Yeah. That's right. Wow.

BONNIE WALLACE: So everywhere you looked, there-- and we estimated about 20,000 women that attended. And Gloria Steinem, she says, it's the largest meeting of women ever held in this country that nobody knows about because it's kind of been forgotten.

INTERVIEWER: What was it like? Was there--

BONNIE WALLACE: So I believe that.

INTERVIEWER: Yeah, that we're doing this today. Was there a lot of energy in the air during that conference? What was it like?

BONNIE WALLACE: Well, one could say energy. One could say anger. We were pretty much not recognized in many of the governments, including tribal governments. And when I think-- I'm going to just make a guess. Now, maybe there were 25 American Indians that attended this conference out of 20,000.

So once again, we were the smallest group. And I'll share a kind of a tragic but funny story. All the different groups of women were assigned meeting rooms at this hotel. And so our little group and Gloria Steinem was walking up to the front desk with us.

And so I politely asked where our meeting room was. And the clerk behind the counter, she says, oh, well, let's see. And she's got her tablet out. So she's going down her list. And she says, well, let's see, now, Black, Hispanic, veterans, handicap, gay and lesbian, Asian. And then she said Korean, Vietnamese, Japanese, Indian, Hindu, Muslim, elderly, rural women, hearing impaired. And this list is, like, forever, and we're not on it.

INTERVIEWER: Aw!

BONNIE WALLACE: We weren't on it. And we were incensed. And thank god Gloria Steinem spoke up. And she said, you must find these women a room.

Well, there was a young attorney from Alaska. Her name was Rosita Worrell. And she said, wait a minute, wait a minute. I'll be right back. And so she ran off. And within maybe 5, 10 minutes she came back all excited. I found a room for us to meet. And we looked at her, and we said, where? She said, the women's bathroom.

INTERVIEWER: Oh, my gosh.

BONNIE WALLACE: We said, what? And Gloria said, no, no, no, no, no, you are not going to meet in the women's bathroom. Well, again, this was a Hilton Hotel. The women's bathroom had a large lounge before the actual bathroom part.

So there were enough couches in there. And we go in to meet. Gloria comes with us. And I had everything on tape. I had a little cassette player with me at the time. So in amongst our writing up our plank and writing up all the things we were to share at the end of the meeting to the entire audience-- and we're in there, and we're talking and laughing. But you can still hear toilets flushing.

INTERVIEWER: Oh, my gosh.

BONNIE WALLACE: You can hear the paper towel machines making that noise. But, yeah, that's a true story. And to this day, Gloria and I know, every time we meet each other, I swear to god we run into each other in a bathroom. And we just look at each other and laugh. But that woman, she saved us because not only did she sit with us and help us write up our-- everything. But she presented with us. She stood with us.

At the end of the four-day meeting, we gave her a shawl and an American Indian medallion. And we became friends. And she eventually became very good friends with Wilma Mankiller, who was the first--

INTERVIEWER: Who's an amazing woman.

BONNIE WALLACE: --female chief. Yeah, amazing.

INTERVIEWER: So I got about a minute left here.

BONNIE WALLACE: Oh, OK!

INTERVIEWER: I got about a minute left here. I know because it's been really fun talking to you, Bonnie.

BONNIE WALLACE: Well, thank you.

INTERVIEWER: I'm wondering here.

BONNIE WALLACE: Thank you.

INTERVIEWER: With all that going on down there in Houston, do you feel like it was worth it?

BONNIE WALLACE: Absolutely. Absolutely. Yes. We made connections. I have connections to this day with a lot of the women that were there. We learned from each other. We supported each other through the good, the bad, and the ugly. So, yes, it was absolutely one of the most incredible experiences in my life.

INTERVIEWER: Now, do you think much has changed, though, for women?

BONNIE WALLACE: Oh, yes.

INTERVIEWER: Especially Native women?

BONNIE WALLACE: Yes.

INTERVIEWER: OK.

BONNIE WALLACE: Yes, I do. As a result of that meeting, we had many, many books published about Native women. You know, there's 574 tribes in this country. So if you want to talk about diversity, there it is right there. But, yet we're the smallest population in numbers when you look at the four protected classes.

But, yes, we have come a long way. And there are many American Indian women organizations across the country, professors, executive directors. We have a lot of PhD folks. And then that meeting, I think, really helped us really to see what our gifts were.

INTERVIEWER: I love talking to you, Bonnie. Oh, my gosh. I wish I had more time.

BONNIE WALLACE: I do too.

INTERVIEWER: Thank you so much. I appreciate it.

BONNIE WALLACE: Oh, [OJIBWE]. And that means thank you in Ojibwe. Hey, have a great week.

INTERVIEWER: Likewise. You too. Bonnie Wallace.