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Miss Indian World

Miss Indian World

by Katarina Ziervogel

The largest Native American powwow in the world is held annually in Albuquerque, New Mexico known as “Gathering of Nations” where people from several First Nations tribes gathers to celebrate their diverse culture, filled with rich history, culture, and beautiful traditions. One event in particular, is not your regular pageant competition and is known as “Miss Indian World.” Normally, a pageant competition’s focal point is the participants’ exterior appearance.

What separates Miss Indian World from all other pageant competitions, is their keen goal of selecting the next Miss Indian World out of all talented participants solely based on their sum of deep understanding and knowledge of her tribe, culture, history and traditions. The remarkable young women from across North America travel to New Mexico as a representatives of their own tribes and communities to compete for the honourable title.

It is more than just a competition towards an honourable title, it brings a great community of inspirational, empowering Indigenous women together to send a strong message to the community and world about how tremendously important it is to support one another amongst themselves. In this generation, there are various of spirited voices waiting to be heard. The Gathering of Nations brings a great opportunity for all participants willingly to speak out on the behalf of their people. At this year’s exciting event, a stunning Mohawk woman Raven Swamp from Kahnawake, Quebec was selected as Miss Indian World for 2017-2018. Raven is expected to travel the world as a voice for her people and for the Gathering of Nations, and to promote awareness for the culture, issues and diversity in the community.