12 Chapter 11 The Protest

Chapter 11 The Protest Maria found joy in the music and movement of her body. She wanted to share that joy with others, especially children. When a television star named Dave Garroway invited Maria to perform a dance recital for an audience of American-Indian children, Maria quickly said yes. Here was an opportunity for Princess Wa-Xthe-Thonba to bring together the two worlds in which she lived—the world of ballet and the world of Native Americans. Because the program would be on TV, many thousands of people across the country would see the performance.

The 1960s was a time of unrest. Across the country, people were joining hands to protest unfair treatment of people of color. African Americans marched side by side with white protesters to demand equal rights for all Americans. Native Americans, too, were protesting. Many believed that images of American Indians on television and in movies were prejudiced. Those images portrayed their people as uncivilized and savage. On the afternoon of Maria's television show, the school buses that were to bring the children to the auditorium did not arrive. Maria stood on stage in costume, but the seats were empty.

"Where is everybody?" Dave Garroway asked. He was angry but also worried. He had a television program to broadcast, and he had no audience. "Wait a while," someone suggested. "They'll come." An hour later, the auditorium was still dark and silent. The children never came. Maria danced that afternoon for the television cameras only. Perhaps for the first time ever, she danced without joy in her heart. "I was disappointed by the experience, and sorry that the children didn't return for the telecast," Maria said.

Later, she learned what had happened. Some Native Americans in the Chicago area refused to bring the children to the auditorium. They thought the television people were trying to steal away their native culture, trying to make their children more American and less Native American. Maria was deeply hurt. She believed it was possible to live in two worlds. She had done it. Her sister Marjorie had done it. But most of all, Maria believed this: "The beauty of ballet should not be denied to anyone."

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