Bonita Wa Wa Calachaw Nuñez

Bonita Wa Wa Calachaw Nuñez (December 25, 1888 May 12, 1972), also known as Wa Wa Chaw, Princess Wa Wa Chaw, and Wawa Calac Chaw or "Keep From the Water," was a Native American artist, activist, and writer. She was active in the Pan-Indian Movement in the early 1900s and was close friends with Apache scholar Carlos Montezuma. Nuñez donated 20 of her paintings to the National Museum of the American Indian before her death, where they're still held today. After her death, Stan Steiner compiled her writings and published the book Spirit Woman: The Diaries and Paintings of Bonita Wa Wa Calachaw Nuñez.

Early life and education Nuñez was born on December 25, 1888, in the Southern California desert, near the town of Valley Center. She was most likely from the Rincon Band of the Luiseño tribe, although she was never able to confirm this. alt=A black and white photograph of Riverside Drive, New York. Train tracks can be seen on the left of a photograph, with a strip of trees (perhaps a park). On the right side of the photograph are large buildings stretching out of frame and into the distance. Nuñez was raised in the wealthy and exclusive Riverside Drive neighborhood in New York City. Perhaps because of this, Nuñez never attended school, and she was instead educated by her parents and private teachers.

When Nuñez was older, Mary Duggan attempted to get her into Barnard College, but she was refused admittance due to her race.

Marriage Nuñez married Manuel Carmonia-Nuñez, a Puerto Rican businessman and labor organizer for the Cigar Workers' Union This marriage was approved of by Mary, Despite this, and due to Mary Duggan's overprotectiveness and her sheltered childhood, Nuñez was dependent on her adoptive parents even in her thirties. And in the book The Arts of the North American Indian, it's said that her "art reveals a hauntingly dark vision of beings" and "such deeply primal and emotionally forceful images are relatively rare in any art tradition." Many of her paintings portray group or family scenes where the individuals are embracing each other.

Later life and death In an attempt to learn more about her birth mother and her tribe, Nuñez traveled to California and lived with the Luiseño tribe at some point in her adulthood. She also spent time living with various urban Native American communities in Chicago, Philadelphia, and New York. In her later life, Nuñez became something of a recluse, and she lived alone in an East Harlem apartment. She did, however, teach local children how to paint.

Nuñez died in New York City on May 12, 1972, at the age of 83. Her cause of death is not discussed in writings about her work and life, but author Stan Steiner states that "One Spring day she decided that she would die. And two weeks later she was dead." In preparation for her death she sent 20 of her favorite paintings to the National Museum of the American Indian, settled her affairs (giving the keys to her apartment along with her bankbook and instructions that she should be cremated to a neighbor), and went to the hospital. The doctors ran tests when she arrived, they found no signs of illness, and declared her to be medically healthy. However, before she could be discharged and sent home, Nuñez died at the hospital.

After her death, many of the paintings that weren't donated by Nuñez were taken by the local children who she taught. After her death, Stan Steiner, an author and a friend of Nuñez, located 38 notebooks and diaries she had written over the course of her life, which he then edited and published as a biography entitled Spirit Woman: The Diaries and Paintings of Bonita Wa Wa Calachaw Nuñez.