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Vol 8, No. 1 Winter 2005

PROFILE: MARY JO BUTTERFIELD, AIO BOARD

By Jasmine McGee, AIO Public Information Specialist

“You might as well take a damn shower!” said her mother, the typical archetypal parent whose rebuke and praise continually hovers. Mary Jo tried to sneak into bed, after coming in from a long night out, but “I’ve volunteered you to work all day in the kitchen,” had her marching down to that cafeteria of that San Francisco conference. There, Mary Jo forged a bond that put her on her first board - the National Indian Lutheran Board. Before you know it, in another cafeteria, Mary Jo would cross paths with another, “Everybody was whispering, here comes LaDonna. I thought, I have to meet this lady. The cafeteria door opened… it was magic. We never parted.” Mary Jo was elected to the AIO Board in 1975.

As a leader, Mary Jo Butterfield (Makah) grew like “a branch on a tree.” That tree belonging to Pearl Warren, Mary Jo’s mother, who was an original founding member and the first President of the American Indian Womens Service League (AIWSL) - the first urban Indian group in Seattle, responsible for the development of the Seattle Indian Center and the United Indians of All Tribes Foundation.

Growing up in Seattle, Mary Jo’s house was filled with relatives and visitors from Neah Bay, due to her mother’s invitation of “come stay with us” to any and everybody. Being away from the reservation, Pearl’s lonesomeness for sisters inspired her to turn her home into the start of the AIWSL. Women gathered together and collected presents for Juvenile hall kids, clothes for women to go on interviews, and developed educational programs. “It just grew, and I grew up in all of that.” Mary Jo goes on to explain that the State would always turn to Pearl, when her sister’s children had been abandoned or needed an escape from their mother’s alcoholism. Through her young eyes, Mary Jo identified a clear need.

Yet, a little of Pearl’s “okay I’ll fix you” attitude was needed first. “When I turned sixteen, she lost control of me. She had a good friend at the BIA, and she sent me to an Indian School in Oregon,” Mary Jo snickers, “But it was really a joyful time. That is where I connected with all the Indians in the Northwest. Before, I had thought the only Indians in the world were Makahs.”

Chapter Two - Got Pregnant, Got Married

Chapter Three – First Indian Child Welfare Worker, Former Makah Tribal Councilwoman

It is hard to comprehend how a woman’s life can seamlessly transition from mother to leader. Mary Jo’s energy, for years, was consumed by keeping her three children fed and clothed. Simultaneously, she worked as a waitress and then for Boeing for sixteen years. Many times she would work seven days a week. Boeing’s policy to pay for classes prompted Mary Jo to take courses relating to drugs and alcohol. Again, her mother began volunteering her to help children with their alcoholic parents. Mary Jo became friends with many of the parents, and her efforts to keep them sober saved a lot of children from being removed from their homes. Later, she and seven others worked to get the Indian Child Welfare Bill passed. The first grant to come out of the bill was awarded to the Makah Tribe, and Mary Jo became the first Indian Child Welfare Worker. While discussing the needs of her tribe with a group of friends, Mary Jo was encouraged to run for the Makah Tribal Council in 1976. She served two terms and was primarily elected into office by the younger voters.

In the thirty years with AIO, Mary Jo has seen three Makahs journey through the American Indian Ambassadors program (David Sones ’93, Janine Bowechop ’94, Vincent Cooke ‘03/04) and been witness to AIO’s progression, “AIO has grown with such sophistication. Other organizations would get power and become selfish. The more power AIO got, the more we gave away – empowering others.” A hug or a word of encouragement, these were and are Mary Jo’s modes of empowerment. Having weaved her unique leadership style from childhood to present, encountering her share of adversaries, Mary Jo’s mantra, “Power, if you hold it close, has nowhere to go, rots inside,” should be heeded by all AIO’s Ambassador Alumni, just as Mary Jo abided by the words of her mother.