Quannah Rose Chasinghorse-Potts is a name that I became familiar with her 2021 stellar debut on the Met Gala 2021. She (born June 7, 2002) is a Native American model and fierce land protector who is an advocate for causes that affect her community. Her Indigenous ancestry is both Hän Gwich’in (from Alaska and Canada) and Oglala Lakota (from South Dakota)—she rarely saw her culture represented in the fashion. The stunning indigenous queen felt that she didn't have the potential to be a model due to a lack of representation. This is not a surprise as minority beauty is often pushed to the background when it comes to major fashion photoshoots that reach millions and inform the ideal beauty standard all over the world. But contrary to the fact, that Quannah Chasinghorse has become a rising star in the modeling world.
Chasinghorse is now living in and working from Fairbanks, Alaska, and is one of modeling’s freshest new faces. And I as an Indian woman couldn't be happier for her success.
Her Career Start
Click here to know more: Instagram
After first being cast in a 2020 Calvin Klein campaign that stressed the importance of voting. A few months later, she signed with IMG Models, and it’s about damn time.
Reshaping Beauty Standards
Click here to explore all her beauty & fashion campaigns: Instagram
Chasinghorse is breaking barriers in an industry that has long overlooked Indigenous talent as it doesn't resonate with the masses to the modeling agencies mentality. While the success of Quannah Chasinghorse proves that this mindset is rooted in a white-washed Eurocentric sense of beauty ( blonde hair & blue eyes with a waist size that is possible only through disorderly dieting).
Her Activism
In 2019, she traveled on behalf of the Gwich'in Youth Council to lobby and spread awareness on the Arctic Refuge.
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is still under threat of oil and gas exploration due to drilling program imposed by former U.S. President Donald Trump. Just writing his name, makes me 🤢.
Anyway, Leaders, elders, and youth from the Gwich’in Nation are in Washington, D.C., to restore protections for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). And Quannah was a part of the Youth Council Delegation that shined a spotlight on this pertaining issue that threatens the delicate Arctic Ecosystems and the precious land that has sustained the tribes of the regions for generations. And the authorization of oil and gas exploration on these sacred grounds is blasemphy of the highest degree.
Though she mostly travels these days for shoots, she has also traveled to Capitol Hill to demand climate action. In 2019, she lobbied Congress to pass a bill that would prevent oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Though the House passed the bill, the Senate never did. The refuge holds special significance to the Gwich’in. They refer to the refuge as Iizhik Gwats’an Gwandaii Goodlet, or the sacred place where life begins, due to the porcupine caribou that go there to calve and on which the Gwich’in rely for food.
In 2020, Chasinghorse organized with the Native Vote campaign. That year, Native voters helped swing the election to President Joe Biden’s advantage. That was a win, but Chasinghorse is still working to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. In January on Donald Trump’s last day in office, the federal government sold oil and gas leases on the refuge’s coastal plain, but there’s a chance legislators can reverse it if the Senate passes Biden’s Build Back Better Act, which would repeal the program and cancel existing leases. The see-saw of politics of the land is always tricky to navigate and tilt in the favour of protecting sacred grounds. Chasinghorse, a fourth-generation land protector for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska.
Her ascension into modeling has required a dramatic shift in her everyday life. But I am glad that she did as her efforts have reverberated through generations of women and she has become a beacon that Indigenous women rally behind along with staunch supporters like me.
The Symbolism in her Tattoos
The 19-year-old model, who made history as the first Indigenous woman to walk for Chanel, no small feat started getting tattoos on her face as a teen, a marker for her beautiful culture. It is called a Yidįįłtoo, a traditional face tattoo done by her people — Chasinghorse's heritage is Hän Gwich'in (from Alaska and Canada) and Oglala Lakota (from South Dakota) — the symbolic ink was something she was apprehensive about sharing with the world until she got older.
According to Elle, it's been the tradition for a Hän Gwich'in girl to receive a Yidįįłtoo between the ages of 12 and 14 as a sign of passage into womanhood. The practice was banned by missionaries in the 19th and 20th centuries, but Chasinghorse became the first girl in her tribe to bring the tradition back. Her mother Jody Potts-Joseph did the honors (the first tattoo she ever inked on someone) and has since done many more for other Indigenous people.
Her Brand Associations
Now that Chasinghorse has catapulted into the spotlight, walking the runways of Prabal Gurung, Chloé, and Chanel (among others) and attending the Met Gala, she's using her platform to advocate for change. She is using her unique beauty to forward the narrative of protecting indigenous lands, their people, and their animals while killing it as a model.
When Chasinghorse attended the star-studded Met Gala for fashion's biggest night in September 2021, she admitted the experience felt isolating and "lonely."
Quannah Chasinghorse held her chin high at the 2022 Met Gala after her "lonely" appearance at last year's event. The 19-year-old Indigenous model and climate change activist hit the red carpet at the Met Gala 2022 in a voluminous blue strapless tulle gown by Prabal Gurung, its plunging neckline edged in silver. She accessorized with eyeshadow of the same blue hue, traditional jew, and feathers in her hair. She shouted out bead artist and indigenous activist Lenise Omeasoo for the intricate necklace she designed for her for the biggest night in fashion.
Omeasso explained on Instagram that th piece was inspired by "our native communities."
Even though I can go on and on with her incredible brand campaigns below is a photo gallery for you to explore:
Her Impact on me
It feels so good to be alive when what beauty means is being redefined through the fashion pipeline for me to witness. The glossy pages of the magazines like Vogue Mexico, Elle, and Porter Magazine now have indigenous models like Quannah Chasinghorse on their covers.
This blog post is an effort to appreciate the depth of impact that Quannah Chasinghorse has had on my perception of what it means to be beautiful and embody your full self by chasing your dreams. I just want to say that she is the epitome of indigenous beauty, strength, love, and courage and someday maybe I will get a chance to work with her side-by-side.