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Yellow Bird: Indian pageants not judged on looks
Tuesday, September 23, 2003
"Native Americans have contests like Miss America. They are much smaller in scale, of course, and I'd venture to say the national judges of the Miss America contest would find themselves strangely out of place at the Miss Indian Nations contest.
The Miss Indian Nations contestants are judged for their skills in the culture as well as mainstream talents. Their evening gowns are Native outfits of beads and buckskins. Their talent might be throwing a clay pot or weaving a basket. There is no bathing suit contest; the contestants and officials aren't prudish, just modest. The questions asked concern current events and problems of Native people.
Judges of the Miss America contest would be fish out of water."
Get the Story:
DORREEN YELLOW BIRD COLUMN: Pro-city, pro-Ivy League bias may taint pageant
(The Grand Forks Herald 9/23)
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