Together with the likes of Ida B. Wells, Naomi Osaka, Celia Cruz, and a sorority of different history-making girls, Mattel has simply introduced the latest member of Barbie’s Inspiring Girls Sequence: Maria Tallchief.
Tallchief was a member of the Osage Nation and a trailblazer within the Native American neighborhood who left an indelible mark on ballet historical past as America’s first prima ballerina.
The brand new Barbie has been launched simply in time for Native American Heritage Month.
The dancer died in 2013, however her legacy can be immortalized by the doll, which was designed with the assistance of Tallchief’s daughter, poet Elise Paschen.
“Mattel has been so considerate on this entire course of,” Paschen informed PEOPLE. “I might say to them, ‘No, the arm isn’t like this. It’s extra like this,’ and so they have been very delicate and attuned to all the suggestions that I had as her daughter.”
The Barbie doll wears Tallchief’s outfit from a pivotal efficiency in The Firebird on the New York Metropolis Ballet. She was the corporate’s very first prima ballerina and went on to increase the profile of American ballet on the worldwide stage. She danced for many years and retired from the stage in 1966, when she settled in Chicago.
There, she went on to function the inventive director of the Chicago Lyric Opera Ballet and was the founder and inventive director of the Chicago Metropolis Ballet.
She has since been inducted into the Nationwide Girls’s Corridor of Fame in 1996, acquired the Nationwide Medal for the Arts in 1999, and was posthumously inducted into the Nationwide Native American Corridor of Fame in 2018.
Tallchief can be featured on a U.S. quarter launched final 12 months.
“Maria demonstrated that willpower is aware of no bounds, and her unwavering dedication to Native American and feminine empowerment makes her story one Barbie is delighted to share to encourage generations of ladies to pursue their desires and embrace their limitless potential,” mentioned Krista Berger, senior vice chairman of Barbie and international head of dolls for Mattel, in a press release.
Tallchief’s accomplishments went past ballet, as Paschen mentioned she was deeply happy with her heritage, which is seamlessly built-in into the design of the Barbie. Her full identify — in her native language — is printed on the again of the doll’s field.
“Her identify is Wa-Xthe-Thonba, which implies two requirements,” Paschen informed PEOPLE. “I’m very excited. It is a language that the Osage Nation has resuscitated, and it’s additionally on the U.S. quarter, and now it’s on the Barbie packaging, and now can be within the fingers of tens of millions of kids, too.”
This mirrors Tallchief’s dedication to her identify, too, which Paschen mentioned she was pressured to alter, particularly as Russian ballerinas rose to prominence throughout her time on the stage. Her resilience and dedication to her heritage has caught with Paschen.
“She inspired me to pursue my very own desires as a poet, and it brings me pleasure that her story can encourage different younger women to find their passions and pursue them,” Paschen informed The Oklahoman.
“There’s immense worth in honoring your personal heritage whereas additionally breaking down boundaries by the ability of inventive self-expression — whether or not it’s by dancing, writing, or one other ardour — and I hope this doll instills that energy in everybody.”
Along with this inspiring message, Tallchief’s influence will proceed, as Mattel facilitates a donation to the Middle for Native American Youth, as a part of the Barbie DreamGap Venture.
These efforts have been lauded by the Osage Nation, as effectively. Principal Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear shared delight in each Mattel and the Tallchief household to “guarantee future generations study” about Tallchief’s “outstanding life.”
“Maria Tallchief was a unprecedented particular person with immense expertise who remained grounded in her Osage tradition,” Standing Bear mentioned in a press release.
“She stays a guiding gentle for a lot of throughout the globe, particularly right here at residence on the Osage Nation Reservation. Her many accomplishments exemplify that you could obtain your desires with exhausting work and willpower.”
Header photographs courtesy of Mattel Area
