Alaskan activist and model Quannah Chasinghorse makes waves at Met Gala and New York Fashion Week

In a shiny gold dress adorned with a family friend’s turquoise earrings, necklaces and bracelets made by Indigenous artists, 19-year-old Quannah Chasinghorse turned heads at her first Met Gala – the An annual celebrity fundraiser and haute couture show took place Monday at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

The Indigenous activist and model from the Indigenous Village of Eagle wore a dress by designer Peter Dundas for this year’s theme, “American Independence.” Chasinghorse, who is Han Gwich’in and Oglala Lakota, was pictured alongside celebrities throughout the night on Monday, including Mary J. Blige, Megan Fox and Kris Jenner.

Chasinghorse has had a busy year, catching the attention of some of the biggest names in fashion. Vogue magazine recently featured her in an article titled “Thrilling Ascent of Model Quannah Chasinghorse,” which called her “one of the freshest new faces in modeling” and said she “breaks down barriers in an industry that has long neglected Indigenous talent. “

On Monday night, social media was buzzing about Chasinghorse.

“WHY IS NOBODY TALKING ABOUT THIS NATIVE QUEEN WHO SERVED AT THE MET GALA,” Twitter user @takahashiputa said in a Publish, which garnered over 300,000 likes. “HER NAME IS QUANNAH CHASINGHORSE AND SHE HAS EAT.”

“Native model Quannah Chasinghorse is the Queen of the Met Gala and no, we won’t be asking questions,” entertainment site Pedestrian wrote of Chasinghorse’s look. Another website, Refinery29, called her the “event star” of the event.

Twitter user @WambliEagleman wrote, “Quannah ChasingHorse (represents) all natives at #MetGala tonight!”

In one of her first posts on Twitter – she already had over 30,000 followers on that platform as of Tuesday afternoon and over 100,000 on Instagram – Chasinghorse said she wanted to “represent Indigenous art and fashion. For this year’s theme.

“I felt very lonely there but some people were very nice to me”, Chasinghorse noted. “The Met Gala was a dream.”

Jody Potts, Chasinghorse’s mother, said her college best friend Jocelyn Billy Upshaw – who was Miss Navajo Nation in 2006 and has known Chasinghorse since birth – has flown to New York City with her personal collection of jewelry.

Upshaw, Potts and Chasinghorse met with the designer and stylist to help dress Chasinghorse for the gala, Potts said.

Chasinghorse also made his New York Fashion Week debut, finishing for designer Prabal Gurung and marching for Jonathan Simkhai.

The model also walked for the Gabriela Hearst brand, opening and closing the show.

In May, Chasinghorse featured in a 20-page Vogue Mexico page, which showcased her activism and her need for accurate portrayal in modeling. She was also recognized in Teen Vogue’s 21 Under 21 list highlighting young girls and women, and in the 2021 issue of the Chanel Book.

She is known for her advocacy around the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and was influential in pushing the Federation of Alaska Native people to declare a climate change emergency at its annual convention in 2019.