Helene Hagan
Encyclopedia
Helene E. Hagan, born Helene Coll, (born in 1939 in Rabat
, Morocco
) is an American
anthropologist
and Amazigh
activist.
in France
in 1969, she obtained a Master's Degree in French Literature from Stanford University
in 1971. She is of Berber
and Catalan
ancestries. Her paternal family "Coll" is from the Pyrenees Mountain village of Prats-de-Mollo.
She directed a Photo Project with elders on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
, South Dakota
, with a grant from the South Dakota Committee on the Humanities, for the benefit of the Archives of the Oglala Lakota Community College from 1983 to 1985, with subsequent showing of the photo exhibit she created in National parks and at the Rotunda, Washington, D.C. She the taught at John F. Kennedy University
in California for a number of years.
Helene Hagan has authored numerous articles published in a variety of newspapers and journals. Among those are her well-known article on "Plastic Medicine People" originally published in the Sonoma
Press Democrat, and "Apuleius, Amazigh Philosopher" published in The Amazigh Voice, a scholarly journal which also recently published an article of hers titled "The Argan Tree." (2005) She is the author of two books The Shining Ones: An Etymological Essay on the Amazigh Roots of Archaic Egyptian Civilization and Tuareg Jewelry: Traditional Patterns and Symbols ISBN 978-1425704537. The first book pioneered the hypothesis of a link between an archaic Egyptian culture, the proto-Berber culture of North Africa, and the Tuareg-Berber cultures of the Sahara desert, focusing on rock art research, archaeology, and comparative linguistics. The second book traces the origins and development of Tuareg (Amazigh) art from rock art to modern jewelry design and production. Helene E. Hagan was twice elected and served on the Board of Directors of Amazigh Cultural Association in America (A.C.A.A.), between 2002 and 2006. Helene E. Hagan inherited a large collection of personal papers and unpublished manuscripts of Paul Radin
, which she inventoried and deposited in the Special Archives of Marquette University
, with a Wenner-Gren Anthropological grant. She serves as life time Associate Curator for that collection.
Through the work of the Tazzla Institute, a 501c(3) non-profit organization
, Helene E. Hagan has been able to promote and defend Amazigh culture, rights and identity at the United Nations
through a variety of channels, such as "Creating Peace through the Arts and Media," a UNESCO
Culture of Peace program, and P.I.P.E (Partnership of Indigenous Peoples for the Environment.)
The Tazzla Institute is the supporting nonprofit organization for the Los Angeles Amazigh Film Festival the first film festival in the United States to focus on film content dedicated to the Amazigh world of Berbers and Tuaregs of the vast North African territory called "Tamazgha", which extends from the Oasis of Siwa in Egypt, through Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, the Canary Islands, the Sahara desert to the north of Niger, Mali, and Burkina-Faso.
In 1993, she created the Tazzla Institute for Cultural Diversity (originally the Institute for Archetypal Ethnology) and Amazigh Video Productions, a project of the Institute in Community Service television. Through this project and the Marin 31 channel, she created three series, one of 11 half-hour programs titled "We're Still Here" on American Indians in Marin County
; a second on Amazigh (Berber) culture of Morocco (12 programs); a third series of 4 one hour programs was on the ecology
of the San Francisco Bay
, a series for the training of students of the Environmental Forum of Marin. In Los Angeles
, and for Adelphia communications in Santa Monica
and Eagle Rock
, Helene Hagan produced a series hosted by the well-known American Indian Movement leader, author, and actor Russell Means
, and several programs in a series titled "Amazigh News" (1998–2006) featuring human rights
reports on Morocco
, Algeria
and on the Tuareg people of Niger
and Mali
. Also included in that series was a special half-hour program called "Heart of the Sahara" on Berber-Tuareg artisans of Mali.
Rabat
Rabat , is the capital and third largest city of the Kingdom of Morocco with a population of approximately 650,000...
, Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
) is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
anthropologist
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
and Amazigh
Berber people
Berbers are the indigenous peoples of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. They are continuously distributed from the Atlantic to the Siwa oasis, in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean to the Niger River. Historically they spoke the Berber language or varieties of it, which together form a branch...
activist.
Biography
Helene Hagan immigrated to the United States in 1960. She is the mother of three children. After obtaining a License-es-Lettres from the Faculté des Sciences et des Lettres, University of BordeauxUniversity of Bordeaux
University of Bordeaux is an association of higher education institutions in and around Bordeaux, France. Its current incarnation was established 21 March 2007. The group is the largest system of higher education schools in southwestern France. It is part of the Academy of Bordeaux.There are seven...
in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
in 1969, she obtained a Master's Degree in French Literature from Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
in 1971. She is of Berber
Berber people
Berbers are the indigenous peoples of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. They are continuously distributed from the Atlantic to the Siwa oasis, in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean to the Niger River. Historically they spoke the Berber language or varieties of it, which together form a branch...
and Catalan
Catalan people
The Catalans or Catalonians are the people from, or with origins in, Catalonia that form a historical nationality in Spain. The inhabitants of the adjacent portion of southern France are sometimes included in this definition...
ancestries. Her paternal family "Coll" is from the Pyrenees Mountain village of Prats-de-Mollo.
She directed a Photo Project with elders on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is an Oglala Sioux Native American reservation located in the U.S. state of South Dakota. Originally included within the territory of the Great Sioux Reservation, Pine Ridge was established in 1889 in the southwest corner of South Dakota on the Nebraska border...
, South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
, with a grant from the South Dakota Committee on the Humanities, for the benefit of the Archives of the Oglala Lakota Community College from 1983 to 1985, with subsequent showing of the photo exhibit she created in National parks and at the Rotunda, Washington, D.C. She the taught at John F. Kennedy University
John F. Kennedy University
John F. Kennedy University is a nonprofit, private university located in Pleasant Hill, California, with satellite campuses in Campbell, Berkeley, and Costa Mesa. It was founded in 1964 to focus on providing continuing opportunities for non-traditional higher education. Enrollment is approximately...
in California for a number of years.
Helene Hagan has authored numerous articles published in a variety of newspapers and journals. Among those are her well-known article on "Plastic Medicine People" originally published in the Sonoma
Sonoma County, California
Sonoma County, located on the northern coast of the U.S. state of California, is the largest and northernmost of the nine San Francisco Bay Area counties. Its population at the 2010 census was 483,878. Its largest city and county seat is Santa Rosa....
Press Democrat, and "Apuleius, Amazigh Philosopher" published in The Amazigh Voice, a scholarly journal which also recently published an article of hers titled "The Argan Tree." (2005) She is the author of two books The Shining Ones: An Etymological Essay on the Amazigh Roots of Archaic Egyptian Civilization and Tuareg Jewelry: Traditional Patterns and Symbols ISBN 978-1425704537. The first book pioneered the hypothesis of a link between an archaic Egyptian culture, the proto-Berber culture of North Africa, and the Tuareg-Berber cultures of the Sahara desert, focusing on rock art research, archaeology, and comparative linguistics. The second book traces the origins and development of Tuareg (Amazigh) art from rock art to modern jewelry design and production. Helene E. Hagan was twice elected and served on the Board of Directors of Amazigh Cultural Association in America (A.C.A.A.), between 2002 and 2006. Helene E. Hagan inherited a large collection of personal papers and unpublished manuscripts of Paul Radin
Paul Radin
Paul Radin was a widely read American cultural anthropologist and folklorist of the early twentieth century. Born the son of a rabbi in the cosmopolitan Polish city of Łódź, he became a student of Franz Boas at Columbia, where he counted Edward Sapir and Robert Lowie among his classmates...
, which she inventoried and deposited in the Special Archives of Marquette University
Marquette University
Marquette University is a private, coeducational, Jesuit, Roman Catholic university located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1881, the school is one of 28 member institutions of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities...
, with a Wenner-Gren Anthropological grant. She serves as life time Associate Curator for that collection.
Tazzla Institute for Cultural Diversity
Helene Hagan is the Executive Director of the Tazzla Institute for Cultural Diversity, which she founded in 1993.Through the work of the Tazzla Institute, a 501c(3) non-profit organization
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
, Helene E. Hagan has been able to promote and defend Amazigh culture, rights and identity at the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
through a variety of channels, such as "Creating Peace through the Arts and Media," a UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
Culture of Peace program, and P.I.P.E (Partnership of Indigenous Peoples for the Environment.)
The Tazzla Institute is the supporting nonprofit organization for the Los Angeles Amazigh Film Festival the first film festival in the United States to focus on film content dedicated to the Amazigh world of Berbers and Tuaregs of the vast North African territory called "Tamazgha", which extends from the Oasis of Siwa in Egypt, through Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, the Canary Islands, the Sahara desert to the north of Niger, Mali, and Burkina-Faso.
In 1993, she created the Tazzla Institute for Cultural Diversity (originally the Institute for Archetypal Ethnology) and Amazigh Video Productions, a project of the Institute in Community Service television. Through this project and the Marin 31 channel, she created three series, one of 11 half-hour programs titled "We're Still Here" on American Indians in Marin County
Marin County, California
Marin County is a county located in the North San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco. As of 2010, the population was 252,409. The county seat is San Rafael and the largest employer is the county government. Marin County is well...
; a second on Amazigh (Berber) culture of Morocco (12 programs); a third series of 4 one hour programs was on the ecology
Ecology
Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...
of the San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
, a series for the training of students of the Environmental Forum of Marin. In Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, and for Adelphia communications in Santa Monica
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, US. Situated on Santa Monica Bay, it is surrounded on three sides by the city of Los Angeles — Pacific Palisades on the northwest, Brentwood on the north, West Los Angeles on the northeast, Mar Vista on the east, and...
and Eagle Rock
Eagle Rock, Los Angeles, California
In 1909, Hill Avenue, now Hill Drive, was one of Eagle Rock's most beautiful streets. Other streets were Royal Drive , Acacia Street , Kenilworth Avenue , Highland Avenue , and Fairmont Avenue...
, Helene Hagan produced a series hosted by the well-known American Indian Movement leader, author, and actor Russell Means
Russell Means
Russell Charles Means is an Oglala Sioux activist for the rights of Native American people. He became a prominent member of the American Indian Movement after joining the organisation in 1968, and helped organize notable events that attracted national and international media coverage...
, and several programs in a series titled "Amazigh News" (1998–2006) featuring human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
reports on Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
, Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
and on the Tuareg people of Niger
Niger
Niger , officially named the Republic of Niger, is a landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. It borders Nigeria and Benin to the south, Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, Algeria and Libya to the north and Chad to the east...
and Mali
Mali
Mali , officially the Republic of Mali , is a landlocked country in Western Africa. Mali borders Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the Côte d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west. Its size is just over 1,240,000 km² with...
. Also included in that series was a special half-hour program called "Heart of the Sahara" on Berber-Tuareg artisans of Mali.