Maria Chona facts for kids
Maria Chona (1845-1936) was a Native American woman from the Tohono O'odham people. She was a very skilled basket weaver. Maria Chona also played an important part in helping people learn about her culture. She shared her life story, which was published as a book.
Maria Chona's Early Life
Maria Chona was born in 1845. Her home was on the Tohono O’odham reservation. This area is now part of Arizona. Her father, José María, was a respected leader in their community.
As a child, Maria Chona learned to weave. She became very good at making baskets. When she was a teenager, she got married. She later decided to end her marriage and returned to live with her parents. Maria Chona then married again. She moved to Tucson and had two sons.
Sharing Her Culture
In the 1930s, Maria Chona worked with a researcher named Ruth Murray Underhill. Ruth Underhill was an anthropologist. This means she studied human cultures and societies. Maria Chona helped Underhill learn about the Tohono O'odham people's way of life.
Ruth Underhill felt that Maria Chona was a strong and independent woman. She saw similarities in their lives. Underhill believed that Maria Chona's story was very important. It showed the daily lives and strengths of Native American women.
With Underhill's help, Maria Chona published her life story. The book was called "The Autobiography of a Papago Woman." This made her the first Native American woman from the Southwest to publish her own story.
Her Published Work
- The Autobiography of a Papago Woman (1936)
