April 18, 2019

Humans of Native Nation: Meet Maria Chavez

We here at #NativeNationAZ are introducing a short photo and blog series we’re calling #HumansofNativeNation, based off the popular photo series #HONY. Leading up to the performances happening April 20, 27 & 28, we will be sharing stories of the cast members who help make up the local community and “Native Nation”.

Meet Maria Chavez of the Salt River Indian Community, our second Human of Native Nation we’re showcasing on our blog. Maria is the actress taking on the role of Pauline in Native Nation. She is also a runner, as the medal she is wearing in her photo is her most recent, and a grandmother of 19. 

“I saw the ad about auditions and I’ve never done any acting but I thought ‘I would like to go and help and move stuff around, stage the background area, work the box office. Stuff like that. Mainly to volunteer. I do it mostly because I want my kids to see me and hopefully, they’ll follow in my footsteps as they get older and want to help people and want to help their community. And I did this [Native Nation] because it’s branching out from just our community in Salt River. I want our reach to go a bit further.” It [Native Nation] sends out a big message to all Native People about how important it is to care for one another and to try and help one another and stick together as a people. I can’t stress enough about how important I feel it is to always hold family and community close to you and do the best that you can for all of them, for mankind in general.