Tosa Two Heart
Living proof the possibilities are endless
Tosa Two Heart, Oglala Miss Indian World contestant
By Ernestine Chasing Hawk
Native Sun News Editor LOS ANGELES, Calif. –– One of this year’s Miss Indian World contestants offers to her Oglala Lakota Nation peers a ray of hope that life offers endless possibilities. “Life is beautiful, life isn’t easy, but it’s worth living,” said Tosa Two Heart an Oglala Lakota who will be competing for the title of Miss Indian World this week in Albuquerque, N.M. at the Gathering of Nations Powwow. Two Heart, 25, like many of her peers living on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, danced traditional style at powwows, made star quilts and cooked traditional foods. These traditional arts, handed down to her by her mother Iris Gay, a Lakota Language teacher at Porcupine School and her grandmother Gladys Thunder Hawk Gay, are what she will showcase at the Miss Indian World Pageant. Two Heart attended Little Wound and Rocky Ford schools before leaving for Sherman Indian High School in Riverside, Calif. where she graduated in 2008. “I loved Sherman. I got to meet other youth like myself from across the Nation and I made a lot of good friends there. I got to learn about the different cultures and that in the end, we as native people are all in this world together,” she said. She then attended the University of California Los Angeles and graduated in 2012 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology. She returned home for a brief time and worked at the Pejuta Haka College Center in Kyle as a Student Support Services Counselor. While at UCLA she organized the Annual Native American Fashion Show during Native American Heritage Week at UCLA. She also set up the Miss UCLA powwow pageant that provides a scholarship to Native women college students that represent their culture. In the summer of 2013, Two Heart returned to UCLA as the American Indian Recruitment Project Director where she is currently employed. After seeing the Miss Indian World application online, the young Lakota woman saw an opportunity to do something positive. “I thought it would be something nice, that someone from our Lakota nation is in the pageant,” she said. “I also want to be a good example for our young women to show them that life isn’t so dismal, that there’s a lot more to life than just what’s in front of you.” “You can go get an education, you can take pride in your culture,” the Lakota contestant said. “The possibilities are endless and we don’t have to resort to negative ways in trying to cope with life and trying to escape it.” Two Heart also works with youth in the Los Angeles community and recently ran the Los Angeles Marathon to raise money for Youth Leadership Journey, a program for Los Angeles Native youth that helps them develop leadership skills and reconnect with their culture. Two Heart credits her mother “who pushed her to do well in school and make a living” for the level of accomplishment she has achieved. “She always encouraged me to do better and I always want to thank her for that.” If there’s one thing she learned in life, it’s that you can’t do things alone. “You’ve always got to find your support system and your community. You can’t just completely rely on yourself,” she said and that prayer helps her get through everything and anything. After participating in a program called Graduate Horizons last summer, she connected with faculty mentors from Bentley University in Waltham, Mass and was accepted and received a scholarship. This fall she begins a Masters program in business administration at the prestigious university. (Ernestine Chasing Hawk can be reached at editor@nsweekly.com) Copyright permission Native Sun News
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