Bonita Wa Wa Calachaw Nuñez facts for kids

Bonita Wa Wa Calachaw Nuñez (December 25, 1888 – May 12, 1972) was a talented Native American artist, activist, and writer. She was also known by names like Wa Wa Chaw and Princess Wa Wa Chaw. Bonita was very active in the Pan-Indian Movement in the early 1900s, which worked to unite and support Native American people. She was good friends with Dr. Carlos Montezuma, an important Apache scholar.

Before she passed away, Nuñez gave 20 of her paintings to the National Museum of the American Indian. You can still see them there today. After her death, her friend Stan Steiner gathered her writings and published a book called Spirit Woman: The Diaries and Paintings of Bonita Wa Wa Calachaw Nuñez.

Early Life and Education

Bonita Nuñez was born on Christmas Day in 1888 in the desert of Southern California, near Valley Center. She was likely from the Rincon band of the Luiseño tribe. When she was young, she was adopted by Mary Duggan, a wealthy Irish American woman, and raised by Mary and her brother, Dr. Cornelius Duggan, a well-known doctor in New York.

A photograph of Riverside Drive, New York taken in 1916.

Nuñez grew up in the fancy Riverside Drive neighborhood in New York City. Her adoptive parents often dressed her in traditional Native American clothing, like buckskins and beads. They would then introduce her to their important friends, who included famous people like Arthur Conan Doyle, who wrote the Sherlock Holmes stories, and Carrie Chapman Catt, a leader in the women's right to vote movement.

Bonita had a very protected childhood. She was taught at home by her parents and private teachers instead of going to school. Many people described her as a child prodigy, meaning she was very talented at a young age. Her adoptive parents strongly encouraged her artistic skills. She even gained early art training by creating detailed medical illustrations for Dr. Duggan's research. She briefly studied art with a painter named Albert Pinkham Ryder.

When Nuñez was older, Mary Duggan tried to get her into Barnard College, a women's college. However, Bonita was not allowed to attend because of her race. Nuñez later wrote about how much this rejection affected her, saying she never forgot being denied a college education.

Family Life

Bonita Nuñez married Manuel Carmonia-Nuñez, a businessman from Puerto Rico. He was also a labor organizer for the Cigar Workers' Union in New York City. Mary Duggan approved of this marriage.

Bonita and Manuel had one child together, a daughter named Tee Tee Chaw. Sadly, their daughter passed away at the age of three. Their marriage did not last very long, and they eventually separated.

Fighting for Rights (Activism)

Mary Duggan, Bonita's adoptive mother, was a strong activist and feminist. She was especially involved in helping Native Americans. She included Bonita in her activism from a young age. When Bonita was only eight or ten years old, she spoke at a Convention on Women's Rights. She read a statement written by her adoptive mother about "the suffering of Indian women." In 1898, when she was ten, she also attended one of the first meetings of what would become the Indian revival movement.

As an adult, around the time of World War I, Nuñez became very active in the Pan-Indian Movement. She fought for the rights of Native Americans to join the armed forces. This work led to her close friendship with Dr. Carlos Montetezuma, an Apache scholar. After this, she worked tirelessly for Native American rights. She often received letters from Native Americans across the country asking for help. She would write back and even send money from her welfare checks to support them.

Career as an Artist

From a young age, Bonita Nuñez created medical illustrations for Dr. Cornelius Duggan. As an adult, she was able to earn money from this work. Some of the best medical journals of her time wanted her illustrations because they were so good.

Later, in the 1920s, she started selling her oil paintings on the sidewalks of Greenwich Village in New York City. She quickly became well known at the outdoor art shows there.

Her Art

Bonita Nuñez's artwork is still not widely known, but you can find some of it at the National Museum of the American Indian. She mostly used oil paint on canvas. Her paintings often showed portraits of important people of her time or focused on social problems that worried her.

She used many natural, earthy colors in her paintings, like red, yellow, brown, black, and white. Her art is described as being "dark and thickly textured." Many of her paintings show groups or families embracing each other. She was inspired by artists like Käthe Kollwitz, Edvard Munch, and Emil Nolde.

Later Life and Passing

At some point in her adult life, Nuñez traveled to California to learn more about her birth mother and her tribe, the Luiseño. She also spent time living with different Native American communities in cities like Chicago, Philadelphia, and New York. In her later years, Bonita Nuñez became a bit of a recluse, living alone in an apartment in East Harlem. However, she did teach local children how to paint.

Bonita Nuñez passed away in New York City on May 12, 1972, at the age of 83. Author Stan Steiner wrote that "One Spring day she decided that she would die. And two weeks later she was dead." Before her passing, she sent 20 of her favorite paintings to the National Museum of the American Indian. She also took care of her personal matters, giving her apartment keys and bankbook to a neighbor with instructions for cremation. She then went to the hospital. Doctors found no signs of illness, but she passed away at the hospital before she could go home.

After her death, many of the paintings she hadn't donated were taken by the local children she had taught. Stan Steiner, a friend of Nuñez, found 38 notebooks and diaries she had written throughout her life. He then edited and published them as a biography called Spirit Woman: The Diaries and Paintings of Bonita Wa Wa Calachaw Nuñez.