Barbie welcomes Maria Tallchief to the Barbie Inspiring Women Series
To commemorate this historic event, the Osage Nation will celebrate the launch of the new Barbie Inspiring Women doll created to honor Tallchief on Monday, Nov. 18, 2024, at 10 a.m., at the Constantine Theater in Pawhuska.
Written by Osage News Staff
Maria Tallchief, proud Osage woman whose grace and talent catapulted her to fame as America’s first prima ballerina, has been memorialized as one of the world’s most recognizable toys, a Barbie doll.
To commemorate this historic event, the Osage Nation will celebrate the launch of the new Barbie Inspiring Women doll created to honor Tallchief on Monday, Nov. 18, 2024, at 10 a.m., at the Constantine Theater in Pawhuska. This announcement partners with Mattel Inc.’s Barbie® brand, Maria Tallchief’s family, and the Osage community. The Barbie Inspiring Women line by Mattel celebrates trailblazing women throughout history, capturing their likeness in stunning detail.
The Maria Tallchief Barbie, which showcases the transcendent dancer in her Firebird costume, goes on sale today for $35. The doll is available now on Mattel Creations here and also at Target here.
According to a news release, the development of the Maria Tallchief Barbie was guided by her daughter, Dr. Elise Paschen, who will be a special guest speaker at the Osage Nation event.
“I am thrilled that my mother, Maria Tallchief, is receiving a Barbie Inspiring Women doll in her honor. She encouraged me to pursue my dreams as a poet, and it brings me joy that her story can inspire other young girls to discover and pursue their passions. There is immense value in honoring your heritage while also breaking down barriers through the power of artistic self-expression – whether through dancing, writing, or another passion – and I hope this doll instills that power in everyone.”
The Barbie dolls’ look mirrors Tallchief’s Firebird costume, a groundbreaking performance that introduced her as one of the most impressive ballerinas of all time. Igor Stravinsky initially commissioned Firebird for the famous Ballets Russes in 1910. Balanchine adapted it for the New York stage with new choreography, sets, and costumes by Russian artist Marc Chagall. The New York Times dance critic John Martin wrote of Firebird that Balanchine “has asked her [Tallchief] to do everything except spin on her head, and she does it with complete and incomparable brilliance.”
“Barbie is proud to honor Maria Tallchief, widely considered America’s first prima ballerina, in the Barbie Inspiring Women series. As she rose through the New York City Ballet, where she achieved the highest-ranking position for female dancers in the ballet company, she remained deeply connected to her Osage Nation heritage,” said Krista Berger, Senior Vice President of Barbie and Global Head of Dolls, Mattel. “Maria demonstrated that determination knows no bounds, and her unwavering commitment to Native American and female empowerment makes her story one Barbie is delighted to share to inspire generations of girls to pursue their dreams and embrace their limitless potential.”
The packaging includes Tallchief’s biography and her Osage name in English and Osage orthography: 𐓏𐓘𐓸𐓧𐓟 – 𐓍𐓪͘𐓬𐓘 which means “Two Standards.” Principal Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear will also speak at the event, noting the importance of Tallchief’s legacy among Osages and beyond.
“Maria Tallchief was an extraordinary person with immense talent who remained grounded in her Osage culture,” said Standing Bear. “She remains a guiding light for many across the globe, especially here at home on the Osage Nation Reservation. Her many accomplishments exemplify that you can achieve your dreams with hard work and determination. We are proud that Mattel and the Tallchief family created a Barbie honoring Maria to ensure future generations learn about her remarkable life.”
The honoring will include Oscar-nominated Osage singer Scott George, Grayhorse Tail dancers, and a performance by Josee Lane and Waylon Malone, students at Dancemaker Academy. They will perform the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. Maria Tallchief originated the role in George Balanchine’s version of The Nutcracker, which he created for the New York City Ballet and premiered in 1954.
Chickasaw Nation celebrates Native American Heritage month
Artist working to preserve tribe’s culture
At 22 years old, Lauren John has already accumulated an impressive list of professional accomplishments with projects that combine her talents, education and drive to preserve Chickasaw history, language and culture.
She has illustrated two publications for the Chickasaw Press, brought lessons in the Chickasaw language to life in the Rosetta Stone Chickasaw series and was a featured filmmaker at Chickasaw Cultural Center’s Holba' Pisachi' (“Showing Pictures”) Native Film Festival last summer, just to name a few accomplishments.
John, a Chickasaw citizen, worked as a producer and background artist on the animated film, “The Shepherd’s Flock,” which was selected for the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) film festival circuit, is also recognized by The Rookie Awards as a finalist for Film of the Year in the 2D animation category and has received its Excellence Award.
“The Shepherd’s Flock,” was screened at the annual festival, and she was part of a Q&A session with other filmmakers. The film was her senior thesis project at SCAD where she earned a bachelor’s in animation in June.
“I was really honored whenever they offered to show my film there,” John said. “I wasn’t nervous to show my film because I’m very proud of how it came out and its quality, so I wasn’t necessarily worried about how people would receive it. I was more worried about the Q&A, about the kind of questions that I would get, specifically whenever it came to some more technical things.
“I hope this is the first of many films. It helps preserve our tribe’s language and culture, something I am really passionate about,” she said during the Q&A session.
Growing up in Ada, Oklahoma, John credits the Chickasaw Nation’s camps, academies and programs, particularly the Chickasaw Arts Academy, for introducing her to art, as well as the realization of the urgent need to preserve the Chickasaw language.
“During a session of arts academy, professional language speakers gave us a brief lesson about our language and words that we should know. At the very end, they had this little guessing game, saying, ‘How many fluent speakers or fluent speaking elders do we have in our tribe?’
“When I heard the actual number, it shocked me. Hearing that made me want to work to preserve the language in earnest because even though we do have fluent speakers still, even beyond our elders, it is getting to a point where I need to step up to be one of the people to really help.”
Her grandmother, Pauline Brown, a Chickasaw elder and native speaker, died in 2022, which also drives John to work on projects to preserve the language and culture.
“We are losing that source very quickly, and I really want to help out to preserve those stories before they are all gone.”
One avenue she is lending her talents to is Rosetta Stone Chickasaw, where she has helped with graphic design development since 2018.
Two of the stories from Rosetta Stone have been published by the Chickasaw Press. A 2024 release, “Loksi’ Ishkin Homma’ (Turtle’s Red Eyes),” as told by her late grandmother, is illustrated by John. “Loksi’ Ishkin Homma’ (Turtle’s Red Eyes)” is part of the Nannanoli’ (Story) Series. It’s a colorfully illustrated Chickasaw oral story as told by the late Chickasaw elder Brown. Readers can scan a QR code to hear the fluent speaker share this traditional story in Chikashshanompa’ (the Chickasaw language). The Nannanoli’ (Story) Series is a line of titles that combine the Chickasaw traditions of language and storytelling.
John also illustrated “Chikasha Chahta’ oklaat wihat tanowattook” (The Migration Story of the Chickasaw and Choctaw People), in which readers of all ages discover the journey of Chiksa’ and Chahta while learning the sacred Migration Story in both Chickasaw and English. The book was a finalist for the Oklahoma Book Award.
She has also worked as a teaching assistant for the Chickasaw Arts Academy in 2022 and 2023, experiencing a full circle moment from being a student to becoming a teacher and having the opportunity to inspire the next generation of artists.
John became interested in the art of animation at a young age, as she watched some of her favorite animated classics.
“My favorite Pixar movie of all time is ‘Ratatouille.’ I just loved the message that it had about artistry and how anyone could do it.”
In high school, she attended Pontotoc Technology Center, Ada, and studied graphic arts. She said it gave her a solid foundation to pursue a degree in the animation field.
Serving as both Chickasaw Junior Princess and Little Miss Chickasaw in her youth provided a broad perspective of First Americans in the United States and helped her develop critical life skills.
“Whenever I was Junior Miss, I realized what the word ambassador meant. It was interesting because whenever we would go to events, we would meet all the different princesses from their tribes, and we got to compare our cultures. It was interesting and fun,” John said.
“It really did teach me about speaking with other people and improving those skills that I needed in order to grow into being the person that I am today.”
John is currently pursuing a master’s degree in sequential art at SCAD and continues to find ways to incorporate the Chickasaw culture into her art to represent her tribe.
“That is something I’ve always tried to do while I was here at SCAD because there is less than 1% of Native American population as students. I always made it a personal goal of mine to incorporate anything related to our tribe and culture into all my assignments, and I succeeded for the most part.”
She is thankful to the Chickasaw Nation for supporting her academic goals while she attends the prestigious private art school.
“Thanks to the Chickasaw Foundation scholarships and the Chickasaw Nation higher education for grants like the textbook grant, laptop grants and the clothing grants. It all really helped ease the burden of paying for tuition.”
Her goal is to return to the Chickasaw Nation and continue to preserve and share Chickasaw history, language and culture.
“I’ve been interning with the (Chickasaw) Press for the past two years. I want to work for the tribe and keep doing what I’m doing,” she said. “Whenever I first applied to the internship program, I wasn’t sure how the press would complement my degree in animation, but we found a way to implement the things that I learned and the things that I wanted to do while simultaneously helping with our tribe’s future and the preservation of our language.”
John is the daughter of Tom and Lisa John, of Ada.
For more information about John’s projects, visit Shortcakesnake.art. For more information about Chickasaw Press, visit ChickasawPress.com.
Annual Choctaw Nation Gaming & Hospitality Golf Tournament raises record amount for scholarships
$150,000 in gaming and hospitality scholarships awarded
MCKINNEY, Texas - The second annual Choctaw Nation Gaming & Hospitality Scholarship Golf Tournament raised $161,989 for the Chahta Foundation Gaming & Hospitality Scholarship Program. This amount is matched by the Choctaw Nation, bringing the scholarship total to more than $323,000.
The tournament was held at TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, Texas on Oct. 21, 2024, with presenting sponsors Aristocrat and Gaming Capital Group. It featured 33 teams and 37 sponsors closely affiliated with Choctaw Casinos & Resorts.
These scholarships aim to assist tribal members in becoming future leaders in the gaming and hospitality industry by awarding scholarships to those seeking a degree in a variety of fields including, hospitality management, hotel management, business, management information systems, economics, finance and marketing at a vocational, two-year or four-year institution.
“This scholarship is life changing,” said Angela Palmer, executive director of the Chahta Foundation. “One of our recipients last year was headed into her senior year of college and didn’t have the funds to cover tuition, so she was about to drop out of school, but this scholarship allowed her to continue her education.”
In October, the Chahta Foundation awarded fifteen $10,000 scholarships to Choctaw students pursuing degrees in fields that benefit the gaming and hospitality industry. This year’s scholarships were given to tribal members in Oklahoma, Texas, Delaware, Arizona, Arkansas and New York.
2024 Chahta Foundation Scholarship Recipients
- Ainsley Abernathy from Lucas, Texas (University of Oklahoma)
- Braylen Lyday from Mead, Oklahoma (Southeastern Oklahoma State University)
- Carolyn Billy from Wright City, Oklahoma (Eastern Oklahoma State College)
- Edward Cobb from Newark, Delaware (Delaware Technical Community College)
- Gavin Crouch from Pauls Valley, Oklahoma (Southeastern Oklahoma State University)
- Gracelyn Tramba from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (United States Naval Academy Preparatory School)
- Karsen Jefferson from Tahlequah, Oklahoma (University of Oklahoma)
- Kayla Bacon from Idabel, Oklahoma (Oklahoma State University)
- Mackenzie Kimmel from Phoenix, Arizona (University of Mississippi)
- Marissa Barnett from Bentonville, Arkansas (University of Oklahoma)
- Matthew Brame from Moyers, Oklahoma (University of Oklahoma)
- Sarah Turner from Atoka, Oklahoma (Mid-America Christian University)
- Shelbi Goss from Dewey, Oklahoma (Rogers State University)
- Tucker Dry from Durant, Oklahoma (Southeastern Oklahoma State University)
- Zackery Wilson from New York, New York (Florida State University)
“We want to congratulate all of our recipients and thank the Choctaw Tribal Council, the Chahta Foundation and our gaming partners for supporting these scholarships. Their investment is helping to educate our next generation of industry leaders,” said Heidi Grant, senior executive officer of commerce for Choctaw Nation.
Native American Athletic Foundation announces All-Star game
The Native American Athletic Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization that provides educational and athletic opportunities for Native American Youth. While we are a new organization, NAAF was developed after two pilot programs showed a high level of success.
To grow the success from these programs, our board established this non-profit to help Young Natives through athletics, mentorship, and leadership looking toward the next seven generations.
The Native American Athletic Foundation and the NFL are excited to announce that this year's Native American All-Star Football Game will be on January 7th at Ford Center at The Star, World Headquarters of the Dallas Cowboys!
We are now accepting applications from players that are in their senior year of high school and enrolled in an American Indian tribe. Applications close on Dec. 3rd.
