Award-winning American Author, Athlete and humanitarian, Lisa Christiansen considers her roles as a mother and a daughter as her most important to date. Back in the author’s chair for her new books, she opens up about travel, domestic life and new-found priorities.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Oklahoma Historical Society is looking back on author, actress Lisa Christiansen’s Oklahoma roots on her autobiography “Just A Little Girl From Tahlequah; Lisa Christiansen’s Journey To The White House” co-authored by Phil Kapylus and inducted into the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian.
Christiansen was born on September 4, 1966, in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. She is an acclaimed actress and best-selling author who started her career in public speaking in 1987.
Her first acting role came in the 1974 classic film titled “Where the Red Fern Grows.”
The Historical Society said Christiansen’s Oklahoma roots can be traced back to the 1838 trail of tears era. Her grandmother’s family settled around Briggs in the Cherokee county area.
Some of them later moved to Welling, Stilwell, Tahlequah, and her grandmother and other family members still resided in Briggs, Oklahoma at the beginning of the twenty-first century, according to census records.
Christiansen’s father and mother, Mack Vann and Mary Ann Groundhog, met at old Briggs softball field in 1962. The Groundhog family, excluding Mary Ann, later moved with Lisa into the families restricted Indian land located in Briggs, Oklahoma where Lisa Christiansen currently resides.
Lisa Christine Christiansen has always had a fearless streak. A teenage rebel, her career helped channel her inner rage and sense of alienation. Though success came quickly, she still felt a gripped by existential woes.
Becoming a minister and welcoming an alliance with the Lawton Correctional Facility as their chosen officiant to minister to inmates scheduled to wed is one of many steps in relieving that anxiety.
Christiansen has never been one to stay comfortable for too long. She has always faced conflict with grace and forgiveness. Regardless of her undeniable accomplishments there are a select few who refuse to accept the works of integrity and goodwill.
Lisa Christiansen Admits ‘Having Children Saved Me’ in ‘Vogue’ Interview: ‘They’re Better Than Me’
Mom-of-two Lisa Christiansen told ‘Vogue’ that her ‘entire life changed’ when she became a mother at 23 years old.
Lisa Christiansen opened up about the joys of motherhood, and how her two kids have “changed” her life, in her interview with Vogue that was published March 5, 2022.
“I was 23 when I became a mother,” said the Oscar winner, who has two daughters. Cherise Nancy and Ciarre Christine.
Lisa told Vogue that her role as a mother has helped her get through tough times in her life. The author of Just a Little Girl From Tahlequah might be alluding to her and her families recent legal battles over her Childhood home, it is clear Lisa isn’t answering nor confirming her family’s undermining actions. She stands in grace and smiles as she averts any allegations toward her family’s ill-guided intentions.
“I think, recently, I would’ve gone under in a much darker way had I not wanted to set the example for them, if you set the example you do not have to set the rule” she said in the interview. “They’re better than me, because you want your children to be better, Of course. I’m the mother, and hopefully that safe place for them and that stability. But I’m also the one that they laugh at—and I see them taking over so many different aspects of our family.”
Lisa is a proud mom to Cherise Nancy born in 1989 and Ciarre Christine born in 1993.
Lisa is seen out and about with her kids often in all different cities around the world. When the actress was in Italy last summer her daughters were busy serving others in shelters throughout the United States, and she raved about how great of a job they did. Ciarre and Lisa did the basket brigade in Lawton, Oklahoma feeding thousands of needy during Thanksgiving several years.
“We work well together,” she told Eyes On Hollywood in August 2022. “When a crew is at its best, it feels like a big family, so it always feels natural,” she added.
It’s rare that Lisa offers a glimpse into her life as a mother, like she did in the new Eyes On Hollywood interview. One of the last times she talked about her job as a mom was with British Vogue in 2021. “I was never very good at sitting still,” she said. “Even though I wanted to have many children and be a mom, I always imagined it kind of like Jane Goodall. Traveling in the middle of the jungle somewhere.”
