Celebrating Women’s History Month A tribute to Maria Tallchief

1. CelebratingWomen’s History MonthA tribute to Maria Tallchief By: Ayelen Pinotti

2. Lets Look at Maria Tallchief:

3. How she got started: • Maria was born in 1925. • Her father was an Osage Indian and her mother was Irish. • Her parents always taught her about her ancestors. • Her ancestors dealt with a lot of music and art. • She became very involved with music and art.

4. She started to show great dance techniques when she was three. • At age four she could play the piano. • When she was eight her family moved to California because they wanted Maria to go to the enterteinment industry. • She studied ballet for many, many, years. • In 1942 she graduated from Beverly Hills High School and she moved to New York to become a professional bellerina.

5. After Being in New York: • After studing very hard and for a long time Maria became the first Professional Osage Indian Ballerina ever. • Her parents were very proud of this accomplishment. • She was one of the greatest ballerina ever. • She did many challenging ballets.

6. In 1946 Maria married her dance teacher. • His name was George Balanchie. • After she married George Balanchie, she did some of the most challenging ballets ever.

7. At the End: • In 1965 she is 41 years old and she retires from ballet. • She is still one of the greatest ballet dancers ever.

8. More Information About the Osage Indians:

9. Basic Information: • The Wazhazhe Indians were one of the most important tribes’. • They had two main groups, the Grand and the Osage. • The Osage are the Indians who lived very close to the Missouri river.

10. The Male Indians: • The men shaved their heads, leaving only a scalplock extending from the forehead to the back of the neck. • The pattern of a man’s scalplock indicated the clan he belonged to. • Men wore deerskin loincloths, leggings, and moccasins, and bearskin or buffalo robes when it was cold. • Beaded ear ornaments and armbands were worn, and warriors tattooed their chests and arms.

11. The Female Indians: • Women kept their hair long. • They wore deerskin dresses, woven belts, leggings, and moccasins. • Clothing was perfumed with chewed columbine seed and ceremonial garments were decorated with the furs of ermine and puma. • Earrings, pendants, and bracelets were worn. • women decorated their bodies with tattoos also.

12. The community: • The men hunted bison, deer, elk, bear, and smaller game. • The women butchered the animals and dried or smoked the meat and prepared the hides. • The women also gathered wild plant food and the summer villages tended gardens of corn, beans, squash, and pumpkins.

13. Continuation: • The horse was used mostly for hunting because the Osage went to war on foot. • The Osage obtained their horses by stealing, trading, and capturing, wild horses in the plains. • However, a stolen horse was considered to be a honor.

14. Ceremonies: • Ceremonies were performed for important events and activities. • This includes hunting, war, peace, curing illness, marriage, and mourning the dead. Participants wear special clothing and ornaments or paint elaborate designs on their bodies.