Mary Deleary

Ph.D. Native American Art History, University of Oklahoma, 2023
M.A. Tribal Administration and Governance, University of Minnesota-Duluth, 2018
B.A. Museum Studies, Institute of American Indian Arts, 2010

Mary Deleary is Anishinaabe Ojibwa, Potawatomi, and Lenape kwe. She is a citizen of Chippewas of the Thames First Nation (COTTFN) and a descendent of Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation, Chippewas of Rama First Nation, and the Delaware Nation at Moraviantown. She received an M.A. in Tribal Administration and Governance from the University of Minnesota-Duluth and recently completed her Ph.D. in Native American Art History from the University of Oklahoma. Her dissertation, titled, A Place for Us to Sit: Making and Remembering Visual and Material Histories of Deshkan Ziibiing is dedicated to locating ancestors, stories, and practices of making that are unique to the Anishinaabeg of Deshkan Ziibiing (Chippewas of the Thames First Nation). Through the exploration of object personhood, she resituates gete-anishinaabeg (the old ones) in a continuum of making practices that embodies Anishinaabe futurity. She applies Indigenous methodologies such as Biskaabiiyang, Storywork, Felt Theory, and Native Feminist Analysis to object-based research to expand the discussion of distinct art histories that are specific to Indigenous communities and place. Deleary’s research focuses on Anishinaabe practices of making from the Great Lakes region and recovering gete-anishinaabeg. She maintains a strong relationship to her home First Nation as a member of the Deshkan Ziibiing Kinoomaagegamig Board of Education and is committed to supporting and uplifting Native arts, artists, and nations.

Mellon Leadership and Professionalization Seminar, Fall 2023

Native American Art History, Graduate Teaching Assistant, Spring 2022

Native American Art History, Graduate Teaching Assistant, Fall 2021

Global Art History II (1500-Present), Spring 2021

Global Art History II, Spring and Fall 2020

Global Art History I, Fall 2019

Couse-Sharp Historic Site-OU Russell Center Fellow, 2023
University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK

Nancy L. Mergler Dissertation Completion Fellowship, 2022- 2023
University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK

International Dissertation Completion Fellowship, 2022- 2023
Social Sciences Research Council, Brooklyn, NY

Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Curatorial Internship, 2019-2020
Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, Norman, OK

Secretary, Native American Art Studies Association, 2021-2023

Board Member, Deshkan Ziibiing Kinoomaagegamig Board of Education, 2017-2025

Board Member, Jacobson House Native Art Center, 2020-2024

Conference Presentation: “A Place for Us to Sit: Making and Remembering Visual and Material Histories of Deshkan Ziibiing”
Native American Art Studies Association, Halifax, NS., Fall 2023.