Maria Tallchief Birthplace

There is no museum and no public house to visit — Maria Tallchief's birthplace is a private residence in Fairfax, where she and her sister Marjorie spent their early childhood before the family moved to Los Angeles. The town keeps the memory alive informally; the Fairfax Public Library has a small Tallchief display, and a historical marker in the city park honours the sisters.

For a more substantial Tallchief experience, drive to nearby Pawhuska, where the Tallchief sisters and three other Native American prima ballerinas — the Five Moons — are commemorated, or to the Five Moons mural at the Oklahoma State Capitol.

things to do sight
A story
Maria Tallchief became the first major Native American prima ballerina, a star of George Balanchine's New York City Ballet and the first American to dance with the Paris Opera Ballet. She was born in Fairfax in 1925; her sister Marjorie, born here in 1926, also became an international ballerina. Both are honoured on the **Five Moons** monument at the Oklahoma State Capitol and in a bronze sculpture trail in nearby Pawhuska.