Maria Tallchief

Elizabeth Tall Chief was born in 1925. She became one of the most famous ballet dancers of her time.

Everyone called her Betty Marie. Her father, Alexander Tall Chief, was Native American. He belonged to the Osage tribe. Her mother, Ruth, had Irish and Scottish heritage. The family was very wealthy. They owned a lot of property in Fairfax, Oklahoma. That town was in the Osage Reservation.