Bonita Wa Wa Calachaw Nuñez papers

Collection — Box: 1

Identifier: 9169

Scope and content

Photocopies of notes, diaries, poetry, and drawings, some of them published in Spirit Woman by Steiner. Also includes some original notes, clippings, and typed manuscripts by Nuñez. Titles include Inside the Indian wind, The hidden life, My trip to hell, and others. Correspondence to her, mostly from the 1920s, includes letters from Carlos Montezuma. Notes discuss mission schools, a speech by Major Pratt, laws governing Native Americans, information about growing up as an Indian, and cultural differences.

Dates

[ca. 1900-1972]

Creator

Nuñez, Bonita Wa Wa Calachaw, 1888-1972. (Person)
Montezuma, Carlos, 1866-1923. (Person)
Steiner, Stan. (Person)
Huntington Free Library (Former owner, Organization)

Biographical / Historical

Bonita Wa Wa Calachaw Nuñez was a writer, painter, poet, and activist. She lived a reclusive life in New York City. Her art and writing show her struggles and observations about Native American identity. Stan Steiner compiled many of her notes into the book Spirit Woman, The Diaries and Paintings of Bonita Wa Wa Calachaw Nuñez.