Storytelling is an art form, a methodology in Indigenous sciences, a gift, and an absolutely essential component of the strength, success and sustainability of Native American cultures. For Native people, it can be said that our most trusted storytellers are the keepers of our origins, the carriers of our memories and the superheroes of our communities. Storytellers are essential to survivance. Our ancestors, the people of this place, created meticulous methodologies in which to remember and retain their lifeways and protect their world. It is even without a sheet of paper, book, or computer, a gifted storyteller can recall creation stories, histories and narratives with ease and genetic intention. Their accounts are how we remember ourselves, why we are here, and provide roadmaps of hope for the most precarious parts of the journey.
Those who are imbued with the gift of storytelling carry an infinity of blessings, and an equal amount of burden. For a story to carry meaning, the creator must believe in their core that the account resonates, has purpose, and that layers of meaning will unfold as the story is conveyed. Additionally, our poet, author, comedian, orator, must be imbued with compassion, intuition and the creative candor necessary to engage, perhaps even enthrall a discerning audience. This person must have within them the power and conviction to tell a story that has the potential to save humanity.
Our storyteller—one of Indian Country’s superheroes, Tazbah Rose Chavez—has arrived on the scene. The Hollywood scene, that is, to begin a new kind of storytelling. Her commitments and purposes are driven by her desire to have Native people representing themselves in every avenue of film and television. In Tazbah’s plan, the film industry embraces and respects Native Americans as their own agents in cultural representation, choosing to define and redefine themselves as often as they see fit and in every manner of existence. She bears her heart and soul to show us the dreams and realities of Native youth, by creating beautifully complicated young Native anti-heroes in the television series Reservation Dogs. She writes and directs films that portray modern Native people in situations that perfectly communicate the dubious and perpetual task of “walking between worlds,” such as her work in Your Name Isn’t English. Tazbah’s gift successfully and gracefully creates an on-screen presence that consistently conveys Indigenous worldviews, sensibilities and contradictions. Her life and being is what sustains and fortifies her work. There is no question of authenticity or accurate representation when Tazbah is at the helm—every word, object, person and event is true to contemporary Indigenous people, as they are a reflection of her own life and experiences as a modern Native American woman.
Tazbah is a citizen of the Bishop Paiute Tribe from the Nūūmū, Diné and San Carlos Apache tribes. The youngest daughter of Paul and Valerie Chavez, Tazbah was born on what was most probably a cold January day in Anchorage, Alaska. Taz didn’t stay in the North for long. Shortly after the arrival of their new baby girl the family returned to the Bishop Paiute reservation in California, where she has lived and grown for the majority of her life. This is where Tazbah is rooted, her ancestors live in the air that breezes through the leaves of the trees and tall strands of grasses that still stand to sustain and witness the purpose and place of the Paiute people. Though she was born into it, this is where Tazbah became a storyteller. As a child Tazbah was given the freedom to explore and investigate the world around her. Her parents created a home and environment that provided Taz with a foundation to learn, grow, trust and think. She explains, “My family is multi-tribal, so my belief systems come from both sides. I was raised in both Diné and Paiute culture, but was always given a safe space to explore beyond. If I wanted to check out Sunday school my parents were happy to give me a ride. If I wanted to read Shakespeare they took me to the library. I was given choices.”
Tazbah’s love for writing came from her mother, a journalist with a focus on environmentalism. “It was my mother’s writing that influenced my own,” Tazbah says. “I am a poet because of her. I was born into storytelling.” Mom had the family on regular trips to protest against environmental destruction, violations of human rights and any matter that was hurtful to our Mother Earth or her children. These experiences in taking responsibility for doing what’s right and standing for justice continues to inform her work. One of her commitments to Native people involves making Hollywood a culturally respectful space that empowers Native people to be the architects of their own future and carriers of history. Tazbah lives and works with the belief systems of her people, the women who came before her. In discussing her Kindaalda or Navajo Coming of Age Ceremony, Tazbah reflects on how the women in her life, the matriarchs who helped her and taught her to be strong, smart and good, continuously reaffirm what she understands to be the honor and responsibility of being a woman. She has been fortified and prepared for anything that comes her way.
She was also heavily influenced by her father, Paul, who co-created a film and music academy on her reservation, which was Tazbah’s first exposure to film. This is where she made her first films, combining poetry, music and visual storytelling. This is how she became connected to mentors in the entertainment industry that she still has to this day. One of which is Kimberly Guerrero, who has come full circle to act in both Rutherford Falls and Reservation Dogs, the television shows Tazbah now writes and directs. (Greg was also in this same summer program.)
In becoming a woman, love is one of the rare things that no one can prepare you for. It consumes your heart and mind, transforms you in the most spectacular and tragic ways, leaving you destitute and to your own devices. If you’re fortunate, one of your devices is healing through storytelling. Every so often there is a love story so extraordinary it must be told. A narrative to make you believe in destiny, magic and fate. Tazbah and Greg wrote poetry, dreamed the same dreams, sat beside each other on the school bus after school every day, played basketball together, made films and music, wished for each other to be on magazine covers and accepting awards. Soulmates, humans who came to this earth to connect, love and plant seeds that would grow into something so exquisite, even they could not fathom what was to come. Greg was Tazbah’s childhood best friend. The love of her life. Greg was a poet, an artist, a writer and musician. A force of nature so talented and inspiring his will and spirit solidified Tazbah’s commitment to her gifts—her poetry, writing and filmmaking. As the universe would have it, without any rhyme or reason, Greg was taken away. In 2009, while Tazbah was at UCLA, Greg disappeared, without word or warning, never to return. Greg is understood to be a Murdered Missing Indigenous Person now. A beautiful man filled with love and hope, taken before he had a chance to live the life he deserved. Greg is still a force and presence in Tazbah’s life, his ever-present spirit continues to guide and protect her throughout her life.
As life and the universe would have it, Tazbah’s unconventional and remarkable life is thrust forward into new spaces with old peers and new sisters. One never forgets or lets go of a love like the one Tazbah and Greg had for one another. However, a choice must be made to go on and make a life that honors that love, even if it is without them.
Tazbah had another life, one most people don’t know too much about. It brought her to her best friend, confidant and creative soulmate, Bethany Yellowtail. The two met through a mutual friend, Mr. Thosh Collins, an O’odham gentleman who essentially knows just about every Native person in Los Angeles. “Thosh introduced us, he knows everyone. From the first minute we met it was sudden and real, she was my sister. We had so much in common, mainly we were rez girls in the middle of LA trying to make sense of it all,” Tazbah says. “She was in the early parts of her fashion career, and I was working in corporate for Aveda. Eventually we became roommates and creative partners in getting our careers off the ground. She supported me when I quit my day job to become a full-time writer. I helped her by producing and directing her first and second ad campaign.” Taz talks about one of her favorite moments, “Once I was super stressed out from working and trying to make ends meet and Beth low-key cleaned my room for me. I couldn’t believe it. I was like, ‘Why did you clean my room? You didn’t have to!’ She said she really wanted to help me because I was struggling and cleaning my room was what she thought would help me feel better and get my shit together…Beth knows all, she thinks of things and sees things I may not. She accepts me as I am, doesn’t judge and understands everything.”
Tazbah has been Bethany’s Day One since the B.Yellowtail brand began. Both Rez girls have come a long way, but not without strife and hardship. They each continue to fight hard for real change in both the film and fashion industry, despite the trauma, no matter the trial. Tazbah and Bethany will successfully and beautifully complete what they came to this earth to do. With the help of their ancestors and super-natural protectors they are reshaping the world by elevating Native people, our women and our most powerful stories, and they still look fierce.
About the Designer
Bethany Yellowtail is a member of the Northern Cheyenne Nation, and was raised in the Mighty Few District of the Crow Nation (Southeastern Montana). She is the designer and founder of LA-based apparel brand B.Yellowtail, and the B.Yellowtail Collective, a brand initiative to support Native American, First Nations and Indigenous entrepreneurs. A 2009 graduate of the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, she started her fashion career at the BCBG Max Azria Group, moving on to become a lead pattern maker for several private labels specializing in women’s dresses. In 2015 she left the corporate fashion world to launch B.Yellowtail LLC.
Bethany’s artistic vision and work is irremovable from her vision for her community; not only does she provide employment for dozens of Indigenous artists, Bethany was active in the No-DAPL and women’s rights movements, fundraising thousands of dollars through apparel sales, taught ribbon skirt/sewing workshops on site at the water protector camps and created a silk scarf to represent the women’s march on Washington. She is an active organizer in her tribal communities and is passionate about using fashion as a tool to uplift women and young girls, Indigenous wellness initiatives, and to support MMIWG resources and preventative services.
Tazbah Look 1:
Top: For Love and Lemons Sequin bustier
Skirt: B.Yellowtail Custom Sequin skirt
Shoes: Nike
Jewelry: Diné jewelry gifted by Tazbah Chavez family
Tazbah Look 2:
Coat: Section 35
Top: B.Yellowtail Indigenous Beauty Scarf
Pants: Good American Leather Cargo Pants
Shoes: Nike
Jewelry: Gucci
Stylist: Bethany Yellowtail
Photographer: Erica Ciganek
Makeup: Valerie Von Prisk
Hair: Nancilee Santos
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