MONTVILLE, Connecticut — When Rachel Evangelisto stepped onto the Miss America stage for preliminary night one, she did so in an orange evening gown complete with hand-beaded Dakota florals.
Evangelisto, who became the first Indigenous Miss Minnesota in June, wanted to wear a gown that truly represented her as a Lakota woman. She chose the color orange to represent the Every Child Matters Movement.
"That is a movement that honors the children that died and were lost in the boarding school system, that were forcibly assimilated into westernized culture, and to have their culture taken away from them. That really affected my family because my grandparents were a part of that system and my bloodline is a survivor of that genocide," Evangelisto said. "So for me to have smoked hide from a deer that a woman harvested herself... and she did hand-beaded Dakota florals all the way down... it gives me goosebumps to even think about it. That was truly one of the most special moments of life."
Those details were thanks to Red Berry Woman. Evangelisto said she worked with The Pageant Shop to get the gown design made by Fernando Wong. They then sent the gown sample to Red Berry Woman.
The gown is personal to Evangelisto for more than one reason. She also serves as an Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) Guardian where she represents and advocates for the best interests of Native American youth involved in child protection and foster care cases.
She works with about 60 kids across the state.
"I know what it was like to not grow up with a cultural connection and to kind of wonder who I was in the world and what being Indigenous or Native American meant to kind of hear that negative stereotype. So I like to be an advocate for them but also be a teacher for them, too. Get to teach them those life lessons," Evangelisto said.
During Evangelisto's social impact pitch, she wore a ribbon skirt she made herself and recalled how the first time she ever wore a ribbon skirt, somebody threw a cup of their tobacco spit on her.
"I was fortunate to have mentors and people around me that had experienced hate crimes as well," Evangelisto said.
Evangelisto, a former Miss Winona, said she now gets to be that person supporting others.
"I started competing when I was 13 and I didn't see anybody that looked like me. So I wanted to bring that representation just in full force and really push the boundary of what representation means. I don't think I outwardly look Indigenous to a lot of people. They think of a brown person with brown hair. That's not me and that's okay," said Evangelisto, an enrolled member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.
She went on to say, "We're out here showing that there's no type of Indigenous person. You just are. It's your commitment to your culture and your community and the way that you show that through beadwork and take it with pride and celebrate that. Celebrate that culture. That's been a resounding narrative across the country for me so far."
So far, Evangelisto has received over $26,000 in college scholarships. No matter what happens with the Miss America competition, each contestant gets a $3,000 scholarship. Evangelisto plans on putting that money toward law school to obtain her Juris Doctorate in Native American Law through the Native American Law & Sovereignty Institute at Mitchell Hamline School of Law as a Native Justice Fellow.
Evangelisto will take the stage Thursday night at 7 p.m. where a new MIss America will be crowned.
It will stream on pageantslive.com which requires a $32.99/month subscription to gain access to the event. The subscription can be canceled at any time.
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