Miss Indian World pageant winners mark the end of a decades-long tradition
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Codi High Elk was a shy teenager perfectly comfortable caring for horses on her family’s ranch on the Cheyenne River Reservation when she turned down an application to compete in a new pageant for Native women; an application her brother pulled out of the trash and sent her on the path to becoming the first Miss Indian World.
That was in 1984, when High Elk recalled letting his six older siblings do most of the talking and not wanting to enter a competition that required public speaking. But the event that transformed him from a shy teenager into an ambassador for his people is over.
“My life changed from the day I received my crown,” said High Elk, who said her time as Miss Indian World gave her the confidence to earn two degrees and a career expanding access to credit for the Lakota people. “I want the same opportunity for my grandchildren.”
The competition was a headline-grabbing event Meeting of NationsIt’s a massive and at times controversial event that has billed itself as the largest convention in North America for more than 40 years. The pageant has shaped the lives of young women from across the United States and Canada eager to share cultural knowledge and compete for the prestigious title and the iconic, intricately beaded crown.
But this year it will be the last For the meeting to decide the last Miss Indian World in 2025. Organizers said it was time for the events to end but gave no further details.
The show’s rotating collection of beaded crowns will be retired when the two-day convention ends Saturday. Melonie Matthews, daughter of the Commonwealth’s founder, said that in time they could be presented to a museum for display.
tough competition
Dania Wahwasuck, of the Prairie Band Potawatomi and Pyramid Lake Paiute tribes, won the title in front of a roaring crowd last year. His pastel-colored crown, star quilt motif sash, and another suit sparkling with stones and pink tones will be among those retired on Saturday.
The competition invited Indigenous women aged 18-25 to compete. Contestants had to be single, childless, and promise to uphold certain moral standards.
Contestants described an intense five-day period filled with interviews, public speaking and the highly anticipated annual talent show.
Tori McConnell, who won the title in 2023, sought advice from Karuk and Yurok elders as she improved her performance. She demonstrated traditional basketry and explained, first in Karuk and then in English, how she weaves using materials collected from northwestern California, her ancestral homeland.
“It was very validating to have our art recognized at this level,” McConnell said. “Not just for myself, but for my community”
A cultural ambassador
The Miss Indian World crown has traveled the world for over a year now. Maori Haka Rivalry in New Zealand Peace Memorial Park Hiroshima, Japan and Oceti Sakowin camp At the height of protests against the oil pipeline at Standing Rock.
High Elk recalls that in the summer of 1984, he was scouting a Paris grocery store for ingredients to make fry bread and Lakota tripe soup for college students who invited him there.
“You become an ambassador for not just your own culture, but for all Indigenous peoples,” said Shayai Lucero, who won the Miss Indian World title in 1997.
Hailing from Acoma and Laguna Pueblos in New Mexico, Lucero did not grow up in a meeting culture. But at the 1997 Stanford University Powwow, it was embraced by pueblo people who had been in the Bay Area for decades because of a federal program aimed at moving Native Americans off reservations and settling them in cities.
“All these people showed up who knew my family and knew our language and our customs,” Lucero said. “I suddenly felt at home.”
The winners have championed a variety of causes during their tenure, from Indigenous language revitalization to domestic violence prevention.
Miss Indian World 2019 Cheyenne Kippenberger focused on mental health as COVID-19 forced pageants, cultural events and community gatherings to close. As the sole title holder for two years, he hosted online events and encouraged Indigenous people to get vaccinated.
“I remember thinking that everyone felt really alone and restricted. We need to find a way to connect people,” said Kippenberger, a native of Florida’s Seminole Nation.
end of an era
The organization said there are no plans for the Miss Indian World pageant to continue. The title is a trademark of Gathering of Nations, Ltd., the non-profit organization that operates the convention and show.
Over the years the Meeting of Nations has been criticized and described as overly commercial. Founder Derek Mathews, who has at times claimed distant Cherokee ancestry but is not a tribal citizen, offered little public comment in response.
Melonie Matthews, who is Santa Clara Pueblo on her mother’s side, said the organization has no plans to transfer the Miss Indian World trademark to another group.
“The Miss Indian World pageant goes hand in hand with the meet. It has never been a stand-alone event,” she said in an emailed statement.
But many former titleholders are exploring the creation of a new national show for Indigenous women.
“A lot of us were saying, ‘Miss Indian World is bigger than one convention,'” Lucero said. “We don’t need a meeting to continue his legacy.”
Many tribal nations and meetings wear the royal crown. But young women who dream of representing their community on a national, Indigenous-focused performing stage will not have that path. Five years ago, Miss Native American USA crowned its last winner. The Miss Indian Nations and Miss Indian America titles are also invalid.
Many of Miss Indian World’s past titleholders, who went on to become lawyers, teachers, entrepreneurs, bearers of language and culture, and sisters to each other, say the crown has empowered them as leaders.
“It’s a bittersweet feeling,” said Kippenberger, who now runs a tribal consulting firm. “But I have full confidence and optimism that something positive will fill the void.”
