WINONA, Minn.-In June 24-year-old, Rachel Evangelisto became the first woman to be crowned Miss Minnesota at the Miss Minnesota Scholarship Org. Pageant and will move on to compete in the Miss America pageant.
Evangelisto graduated from the University of Minnesota–Morris with a degree in political science and an emphasis on law. She currently works as a guardian ad litem for the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWN) Division of Minnesota. She is a court-appointed advocate looking out for the best interest of Native American children involved in child protection cases.
The young woman is an enrolled member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. Evangelisto told the Forum News Service, "As a young woman, I didn't have a lot of self-confidence. I didn't really know my place in the world, and I felt a lot of hatred for being Native American. And when I looked at the organization, I never saw anybody that represented me or my culture. So, to be the one that I know I needed to see when I was a little girl gives me goosebumps and is an honor."
Evangelisto recounts a childhood of facing racial slurs and being made fun of for her Native American heritage, including a time when, "There was an event when I was a teenager, where I was wearing a ribbon skirt, which is a traditional kind of Native American clothing. And I remember walking down the street when a car pulled up next to me. And I remember the driver shouting at me to go back to my reservation and the passenger threw a large cup of their trash and used tobacco spit at me. I remember it covering my body. And that really influenced my teenage years."
During her years in college, however, Evangelisto met Indigenous professors, students and other positive influences that helped her connect with her heritage more. She says if there's something about Indigenous people she would teach to her country in general it would be the variety. "There's 574 or so federally recognized tribes and 200 non-federally recognized tribes. And many people like to think of Native Americans as kind of pan-Indian stereotype, when really every single one of those 700-plus tribes is incredibly different. All have their own language, their own culture and their own traditions."
Evangelisto notes that because of her involvement in the pageant organization, and the scholarships she has received through it, she will be able to continue on to law school with little debt. But there's another benefit to competing as Miss America, "I wanted to bring the community along with me and just show Indigenous people that if you have a dream, you can achieve it."
