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

| Vivian Juan

| 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

| Virginia Stroud

| Keetoowah Cherokee

1969

| Margery Haury

| Cheyenne-Arapahoe-Navajo-Sioux

1968

| Thomasine Hill

| Crow-Pawnee

1967

| Sarah Johnson

| Navajo

1966

| Wahleah Lujan

| Taos Pueblo

1965

| Marcelle Ahtone

| 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

| Skidi Pawnee

1955

| Rita Ann McLaughlin

| Hunkpapa Lakota

1954

| Mary Louise Defender

| Yanktonai Dakota

1953

| Arlene Wesley

| Yakama Nation

References