Five Moons dancers to be featured on coin

Five Native American ballet dancers became internationally known in the mid 20th-century as the Five Moons. Maria Tallchief, a prima ballerina at the New York City Ballet, was the first American to dance in the Paris Opera Ballet.

The other Four Moons are her sister, Marjorie Tallchief, Yvonne Chouteau, Rosella Hightower and Moscelyne Larkin. 

There’s a mural of the women, “Flight of Spirit,” at the Oklahoma State Capitol. Bronze sculptures of the dancers in ballet costumes are at the Tulsa Historical Society.

Now the women will be commemorated again, this time in gold, on the 2023 Native American dollar coin.

– Staff report, The Oklahoma 100