Miss Indian America#Winners
{{Short description|Pageant from 1953 to 1984 in Sheridan, Wyoming, US}}
{{distinguish|text=Miss India USA}}
{{refimprove|date=January 2017}}
Miss Indian America was a pageant from 1953 to 1989 that was part annual All-American Indian Days festival in Sheridan, Wyoming.{{Cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2013/07/12/201537264/Years-Later-Miss-Indian-America-Pageant-Winners-Reunite|title=Years Later, Miss Indian America Pageant Winners Reunite|newspaper=NPR.org|access-date=2016-10-26}} Each contestant was assessed on the basis of her appearance, communication skills, knowledge and practice of her culture, knowledge of tribal, federal and state governments and talent in traditional and contemporary tribal skills.
The reigning Miss Indian American was considered to be a cultural ambassador between Native Americans and non-Native Americans through speaking engagements, public appearances, participation in conferences of federal, state, local and tribal governments.
In 2017, Montana: The Magazine of Western History published a full history of the pageant.{{Cite web|url=https://gregorynickerson.com/missindianamerica/|title = MISS INDIAN AMERICA History Article|date = 28 August 2017}}
Winners
class="wikitable" |
style="background:#ccc; "| Year
! style="background:#ccc;"| Winner ! style="background:#ccc; "| Nation |
---|
1989
| Wanda Johnson | Navajo |
1988
| Bobette Kay Wildcat | Shoshone |
1987
| Linda Kay Lupe | White Mountain Apache |
1986
| Audra Arviso | Navajo |
1985
| Jorja Frances Oberly | Osage-Commanche-Nez Perce |
1984
| Anne-Louise Willie | White Mountain Apache-Paiute |
1983
|Debbie Secakuku |Hopi |
1982
| Tohono O'odham |
1981
| Jerilyn Lebeau | Cheyenne River Sioux |
1980
| Melanie Tallmadge | Winnebago-Minnesota Sioux |
1978-9
| Susan Arkeketa | Otoe-Missouria/Muscogee Creek |
1977
| Gracie Welch | Mohave-Chemehuevi-Yavapai |
1976
| Kristine Rayola Harvey | White Mountain Apache |
1975
| Deana Jo Harragarra | Otoe-Kiowa |
1974
| Claire Manning | Shoshone-Paiute |
1973
| Maxine Norris | Tohono O'odham |
1972
| Louise Edmo | Shoshone-Bannock |
1971
| Nora Begay | Navajo |
1970
| Keetoowah Cherokee |
1969
| Margery Haury | Cheyenne-Arapahoe-Navajo-Sioux |
1968
| Thomasine Hill | Crow-Pawnee |
1967
| Sarah Johnson | Navajo |
1966
| Wahleah Lujan | Taos Pueblo |
1965
| Kiowa |
1964
| Michele Portwood | Arapaho |
1963
| Williamette Youpee | Sisseton-Yankton Dakota |
1962
| Ramona Soto | Klamath |
1961
| Brenda Bearchum | Northern Cheyenne |
1960
| Vivian Arviso | Navajo |
1959
| Delores Racine | Blackfeet |
1958
| Not held | |
1957
| Ruth Larson | Gros Ventre |
1956
| Sandra Gover |
1955
| Rita Ann McLaughlin |
1954 |
1953
| Arlene Wesley |
References
{{Reflist}}
Category:1953 establishments in Wyoming
Category:Beauty pageants for people of specific descents
Category:Beauty pageants in the United States
Category:Native American culture
Category:Native American history of Wyoming
Category:20th-century Native American women