Ava Walkingstick, a member of the Long Hair Clan from the Birdtown Community, is shown shortly after being crowned the 2022-23 Teen Miss Cherokee at a pageant held at the Chief Joyce Dugan Cultural Arts Center on the evening of Friday, Sept. 30. (SCOTT MCKIE B.P./One Feather photos)
By SCOTT MCKIE B.P.
One Feather Staff
Ava Walkingstick, a member of the Long Hair Clan from the Birdtown Community, will represent the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) as the 2022-23 Teen Miss Cherokee. She won the title during a pageant at the Chief Joyce Dugan Cultural Arts Center on the evening of Friday, Sept. 30.
Kyndra Postoak, a member of the Long Hair Clan from the Wolftown Community, was named first runner-up, and Hailey Winchester, from the Birdtown Community, was named second-runner-up. Morgan Hernandez, from the Big Y Community, was named Miss Photogenic; and Kyla Keel-Aguilera, a member of the Wolf Clan from the Painttown Community, was named Miss Congeniality.
Kyndra Postoak, a member of the Long Hair Clan from the Wolftown Community, was named first runner-up.
Each of the contestants started the pageant with an outfit they chose themselves, and each spoke about their selection.
“Tonight, for my outfit of choice, I chose my ribbon skirt I made myself during Cultural Summer School,” said Walkingstick who noted that she enjoyed Cultural Summer School because she got to learn more about Cherokee language, culture, and hobbies.
The colors in her skirt were black, red, and white which she chose to represent the Wolftown Indian Ball team and to support her dad and uncles who play for that team.
Postoak wore a ribbon skirt and said, “In honor of this year’s Fair theme, ‘Say it in Cherokee’, I’m proud to showcase my outfit of choice. I’m wearing a ribbon skirt that I’ve designed and sewn myself. I chose to wear this skirt in honor of our Native people who are experiencing a mental health disorder.”
Hailey Winchester, from the Birdtown Community, was named second-runner-up.
Her skirt had five rows of green ribbon to represent mental health awareness with five Cherokee words sewn into the skirt in the Cherokee Syllabary representing hope, beautiful, strong, together, and heal. “I chose hope as a gentle reminder that there is hope for all individuals, including our Cherokee people. I’m confident that we can be the change. We can make a differece together as one.”
Winchester wore an orange ribbon skirt with a phoenix design sewn on the front. “Tonight, for my outfit of choice, I’m wearing an orange ribbon skirt featuring a phoenix. Often people wear orange to remember those who never made it home from the boarding schools. However, I wear orange to celebrate the ones who did.”
She said there are two boarding school survivors in her family, and she spoke about a speech in 1892 where Cpt. Richard Henry Pratt coined the phrase, “Kill the Indian, Save the Man.”
Winchester noted, “I stand here tonight to represent people as my great grandfather, Chief Partridge, who was raised by a fluent speaker and whose father never allowed him to learn the Cherokee language to save him from the harsh consequences that he had faced as a child. What Pratt did not know is how resilient we are as Cherokee people. Myself and my siblings are determined to bring back as much of the language, superstition, and power that Pratt believed to be ‘savage’. We are going to rise from the ashes like a phoenix and not let these injustices go.”
Kyla Keel-Aguilera, a member of the Wolf Clan from the Painttown Community, was named Miss Congeniality.
Hernandez wore her Cherokee Middle School cheerleading outfit. “I chose to wear my cheerleading uniform this evening to encourage you to be a cheerleader to those in your life…I have accented my outfit with a blue ribbon in support of Bullying Prevention Month.”
She added, “Victims of bullying are at a higher risk of anxiety, depression, sleeping issues, low grades, and dropping out of school. The effects of bullying can stay with someone for a lifetime.”
Morgan Hernandez, from the Big Y Community, was named Most Photogenic.
Keel-Aguilera wore a ribbon skirt noting, “I have chosen to wear a blue ribbon skirt which I made in the Cultural Summer School this past year. I decided to wear the color blue because it represents my community which is Painttown.”
In addition to a traditional wear portion, the young ladies each performed a traditional talent including: Walkingstick – Cherokee Peace Pipe Dance, Postoak – sang “I’ll Fly Away” in the Cherokee language, Winchester – told the Cherokee story of “How the Milky Way Came to Be” while painting a depiction of the story, Hernandez – sang a song in the Cherokee language to the tune of “Under the Boardwalk” to encourage people to speak Cherokee, and Keel-Aguilera – Cherokee Running Dance.
