- Details
- By Pauly Denetclaw
Quannah Chasinghorse, who is Hän Gwich’in and Sicangu Oglala Lakota, looks regal on the recent cover of ELLE magazine. She is iced out in Dolce & Gabbana Alta Gioielleria earrings, necklace and tiara, wearing a black Dolce & Gabbana blazer with a white bustier underneath. Her hand-poked Yidįįłtoo on her chin and around her eyes looks stunning.
This cover comes just seven months after being featured on the cover of Vogue Mexico’s May issue. Over the past year, Chasinghorse has made huge strides in the fashion industry becoming the first Indigneous woman to walk for Chanel. She also attended the 2021 Met Gala and has walked the runway for Chloé, Savage x Fenty, Gabriela Hearst, and Prabal Gurung. So much has happened in just one year.
The 19-year-old model was signed to IMG, a renowned modeling agency, in December of 2020. (IMG has also signed models like Tyra Banks, Kate Moss, and Gisele Bündchen.) This after amassing a large social media following through her activism work, which she is most known for.
Want more Native News? Get the free daily newsletter today.
As she talks about in both Vogue Mexico and ELLE, being a land protector is one of, if not the, most important part of her life. Coming from a long line of fierce and powerful matriarchs, she is a fourth-generation land protector of her Hän Gwich’in homelands located in what is now called Alaska.
Chasinghorse, and her mother Jody Potts-Joseph have been strong advocates for protecting the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge home to 200,000 porcupine caribou that could be threatened by the ongoing oil and gas development.
In her ELLE interview with Indigenous author Terese Marie Mailhot, Chasinghorse describes a tear-jerking moment where a herd of caribou surrounded the truck her family was using to transport her late uncle to his final resting place in their home village. That night her family got three caribou and it was Chasinghorse’s first one, a rite of passage for a Hän Gwich’in woman and practice she is reclaiming. She was honored to be able to feed her village.
During the 45th presidential administration, the 1.57 million acres of refuge were opened up to allow oil and gas companies to begin drilling — this in an area that has become known as ground-zero for climate change, where temperatures are rising at double the rate as anywhere else in the country. The melting ice caps are pushing Indigenous communities in Alaska further inland. Bringing awareness to climate change and ushering in change to help save her homelands is the focus of her work.
But it doesn’t stop there. She is also reclaiming parts of her culture that were demonized and banned by Christian missionaries. At 14, she received her first Yidįįłtoo. It was three hand-poked vertical lines that went down her chin and was done by her mother Jody to mark her passage in womanhood. The Yidįįłtoo is usually done between the ages of 12 and 14.
In a personal poem she shared with Teen Vogue in September 2020, Chasinghorse read, “I’m from the beaded moose hide in modern clothes, from the smell of sage and taste of fry bread. I am from the fireweed trails. From the birch trees I used to climb, whose limbs I remember as though they were my own. I’m from the mushing, hunting, fishing, and berry picking trips, from the family of traditions. I'm from the potlatches and the legends our elders tell.”
This is why she has become so embraced and celebrated by Indigenous people from across the US. She is proudly Indigenous in every space she occupies, whether it’s wearing turquoise to the Met Gala or sharing the rich history of Yidįįłtoo or speaking on climate change that so deeply impacts her community. Chasinghorse brings her whole being, history and people wherever she goes.
Read her full ELLE interview by Terese Marie Mailhot here.
More Stories Like This
"Your'e No Indian" Examines the Disenrollment IssueAgua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians to Open New Exhibition: Section 14 – The Untold Story
Actor Jonathan Joss, Voice of John Redcorn, Killed in Texas Shooting
Celebrate Summer and Father’s Day at the Chickasaw Cultural Center – June 14
After 30 Years, Berkeley's Turtle Island Monument Foundation Will Be Built
Help us tell the stories that could save Native languages and food traditions
At a critical moment for Indian Country, Native News Online is embarking on our most ambitious reporting project yet: "Cultivating Culture," a three-year investigation into two forces shaping Native community survival—food sovereignty and language revitalization.
The devastating impact of COVID-19 accelerated the loss of Native elders and with them, irreplaceable cultural knowledge. Yet across tribal communities, innovative leaders are fighting back, reclaiming traditional food systems and breathing new life into Native languages. These aren't just cultural preservation efforts—they're powerful pathways to community health, healing, and resilience.
Our dedicated reporting team will spend three years documenting these stories through on-the-ground reporting in 18 tribal communities, producing over 200 in-depth stories, 18 podcast episodes, and multimedia content that amplifies Indigenous voices. We'll show policymakers, funders, and allies how cultural restoration directly impacts physical and mental wellness while celebrating successful models of sovereignty and self-determination.
This isn't corporate media parachuting into Indian Country for a quick story. This is sustained, relationship-based journalism by Native reporters who understand these communities. It's "Warrior Journalism"—fearless reporting that serves the 5.5 million readers who depend on us for news that mainstream media often ignores.
We need your help right now. While we've secured partial funding, we're still $450,000 short of our three-year budget. Our immediate goal is $25,000 this month to keep this critical work moving forward—funding reporter salaries, travel to remote communities, photography, and the deep reporting these stories deserve.
Every dollar directly supports Indigenous journalists telling Indigenous stories. Whether it's $5 or $50, your contribution ensures these vital narratives of resilience, innovation, and hope don't disappear into silence.
The stakes couldn't be higher. Native languages are being lost at an alarming rate. Food insecurity plagues many tribal communities. But solutions are emerging, and these stories need to be told.
Support independent Native journalism. Fund the stories that matter.
Levi Rickert (Potawatomi), Editor & Publisher
