Elizabeth Marie Tall Chief (her birth name) was born in Fairfax, Oklahoma on January 24, 1925 to Alexander Joseph Tall Chief (1890–1959), a member of the Osage Nation, and his wife, Ruth (née Porter), of Scottish-Irish descent.
She was known as "Betty Marie" to friends and family.
Porter had met Alexander Tall Chief, a widower, while visiting her sister, who was his mother's housekeeper at the time.

Elizabeth Tall Chief's paternal great-grandfather, Peter Bigheart, had helped negotiate for the Osages concerning oil revenues that enriched the Osage Nation.
Her father grew up rich as a result, never working "a day in his life."
In her autobiography, Tallchief explained, "As a young girl growing up on the Osage reservation in Fairfax, Oklahoma, I felt my father owned the town.
He had property everywhere.
The local movie theater on Main Street and the pool hall opposite belonged to him.
Our 10-room, a terracotta-brick house stood high on a hill overlooking the reservation."
The family spent summers in Colorado Springs to escape the Oklahoma heat.
Life was far from perfect, though, as her father was a binge drinker and her parents often fought about money.

Tallchief had five siblings, three from her father's first marriage to a German immigrant: Alexander; Frances (1913–1999); and Thomas (1919–1981), who played football for the University of Oklahoma, and was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers; Gerald (1922–1999), who was injured in childhood when kicked in the head by a horse and never regained normal cognitive function.
Her sister Marjorie, an accomplished ballerina in her own right, was Ruth's second child and Betty Marie's "best friend."

As a child, Ruth Porter had dreamed about becoming a performer, but her family could not afford dance or music lessons.
She was determined that her daughters would not suffer the same fate.
Betty Marie was enrolled in summer ballet classes in Colorado Springs at age 3.
She and other family members performed at rodeos and other local events.
Tall Chief studied piano and contemplated becoming a concert pianist.

In 1930, a ballet teacher from Tulsa, Mrs. Sabin, visited Fairfax looking for students and took on Betty Marie and Marjorie as students.
Looking back on Sabin many years later, Tallchief wrote, "She was a wretched instructor who never taught the basics, and it's a miracle I wasn't permanently harmed."
In addition to the problems in her teaching technique, Sabin had put Tall Chief on pointe shortly after she joined the school (at 5 years old) while she was far too young to be able to dance on pointe without injury.

At age five, Tall Chief was enrolled at the nearby Sacred Heart Catholic School.
Impressed by her reading ability, the teachers allowed her to skip the first two grade levels.
Between piano, ballet, and school work, Tall Chief had little free time but loved the outdoors.
In her autobiography, she reminisced about time spent "wandering around our big front yard" and "[rambling] around the grounds of our summer cottage hunting for arrowheads in the grass."

In 1933, the family moved to Los Angeles with the intent of getting the children into Hollywood musicals.
The day they arrived in Los Angeles, her mother asked the clerk at a local drugstore if he knew any good dance teachers.
The clerk recommended Ernest Belcher, father of dancer Marge Champion. "
An anonymous man in an unfamiliar town decided our fate with those few words," Tall Chief later recalled.
California moved Tall Chief back to the proper grade for her age but put her in an Opportunity Class for advanced learners. "
Opportunity Class or not, I was still way ahead," she recalled. "
With nothing to do, I often wandered around the schoolyard by myself."
At this time Tall Chief was removed from pointe, probably saving her major injury.

Bored with school, Tall Chief devoted herself to dance in Belcher's studio.
In addition to ballet, which she had previously been doing all wrong and went back to square one, she learned tap, Spanish dancing, and acrobatics there.
She found tumbling very difficult and eventually quit the cl
Elizabeth Marie Tall Chief (her birth name) was born in Fairfax, Oklahoma on January 24, 1925 to Alexander Joseph Tall Chief (1890–1959), a member of the Osage Nation, and his wife, Ruth (née Porter), of Scottish-Irish descent. She was known as "Betty Marie" to friends and family. Porter had met Alexander Tall Chief, a widower, while visiting her sister, who was his mother's housekeeper at the time.
Elizabeth Tall Chief's paternal great-grandfather, Peter Bigheart, had helped negotiate for the Osages concerning oil revenues that enriched the Osage Nation. Her father grew up rich as a result, never working "a day in his life." In her autobiography, Tallchief explained, "As a young girl growing up on the Osage reservation in Fairfax, Oklahoma, I felt my father owned the town. He had property everywhere. The local movie theater on Main Street and the pool hall opposite belonged to him. Our 10-room, a terracotta-brick house stood high on a hill overlooking the reservation." The family spent summers in Colorado Springs to escape the Oklahoma heat. Life was far from perfect, though, as her father was a binge drinker and her parents often fought about money.
Tallchief had five siblings, three from her father's first marriage to a German immigrant: Alexander; Frances (1913–1999); and Thomas (1919–1981), who played football for the University of Oklahoma, and was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers; Gerald (1922–1999), who was injured in childhood when kicked in the head by a horse and never regained normal cognitive function. Her sister Marjorie, an accomplished ballerina in her own right, was Ruth's second child and Betty Marie's "best friend."
As a child, Ruth Porter had dreamed about becoming a performer, but her family could not afford dance or music lessons. She was determined that her daughters would not suffer the same fate. Betty Marie was enrolled in summer ballet classes in Colorado Springs at age 3. She and other family members performed at rodeos and other local events. Tall Chief studied piano and contemplated becoming a concert pianist.
In 1930, a ballet teacher from Tulsa, Mrs. Sabin, visited Fairfax looking for students and took on Betty Marie and Marjorie as students. Looking back on Sabin many years later, Tallchief wrote, "She was a wretched instructor who never taught the basics, and it's a miracle I wasn't permanently harmed." In addition to the problems in her teaching technique, Sabin had put Tall Chief on pointe shortly after she joined the school (at 5 years old) while she was far too young to be able to dance on pointe without injury.
At age five, Tall Chief was enrolled at the nearby Sacred Heart Catholic School. Impressed by her reading ability, the teachers allowed her to skip the first two grade levels. Between piano, ballet, and school work, Tall Chief had little free time but loved the outdoors. In her autobiography, she reminisced about time spent "wandering around our big front yard" and "[rambling] around the grounds of our summer cottage hunting for arrowheads in the grass."
In 1933, the family moved to Los Angeles with the intent of getting the children into Hollywood musicals. The day they arrived in Los Angeles, her mother asked the clerk at a local drugstore if he knew any good dance teachers. The clerk recommended Ernest Belcher, father of dancer Marge Champion. "An anonymous man in an unfamiliar town decided our fate with those few words," Tall Chief later recalled. California moved Tall Chief back to the proper grade for her age but put her in an Opportunity Class for advanced learners. "Opportunity Class or not, I was still way ahead," she recalled. "With nothing to do, I often wandered around the schoolyard by myself." At this time Tall Chief was removed from pointe, probably saving her major injury.
Bored with school, Tall Chief devoted herself to dance in Belcher's studio. In addition to ballet, which she had previously been doing all wrong and went back to square one, she learned tap, Spanish dancing, and acrobatics there. She found tumbling very difficult and eventually quit the cl
Maria Tallchief