Elizabeth Marie Betty Tall Chief was considered Americas first major prima ballerina, and was the first Native American to hold the rank.
Tall Chief, known as Betty Marie to friends and family, was born in Fairfax, Oklahoma, on January 24, 1925, to Alexander Joseph Tall Chief , a member of the Osage Nation, and his wife, Ruth , of ScottishIrish descent. Porter had met Tall Chief, a widower, while visiting her sister, who was his mothers housekeeper at the time.
Source: Wikipedia