Alivia Wapskineh was nearing the end of her reign as Miss Seminole Nation. Mia Reich had only recently been crowned Miss Choctaw Nation.
Sitting together at Seminole State College in mid-September, the two students were looking at opposite ends of an experience few classmates could share: representing their nations while managing coursework and campus commitments.
Wapskineh was preparing for the Sept. 17 Seminole Nation princess pageant that would select her successor. Reich was beginning her year of service after earning her title at the Choctaw Nation Labor Day Festival.
Their earlier titles had overlapped, too. Wapskineh was Junior Miss Seminole Nation while Reich served as Junior Miss Indian Oklahoma.
“We get to reign again,” Wapskineh said.
This time, they also share a college campus. Both are President’s Leadership Class scholarship recipients at SSC, where Wapskineh is a sophomore studying elementary education and Reich is a freshman studying biology and playing basketball for the Belles.
Wapskineh grew up in Tahlequah before moving to McLoud, where she graduated from high school. Attending SSC allowed her to stay close to Seminole Nation activities while pursuing opportunities through the leadership program.
Reich, a Wright City High School graduate, wanted to begin at a smaller college before transferring to a university. A campus visit and conversations with the basketball coaches helped her choose SSC.
“Everyone was super welcoming on campus when I did my tour and I knew that this was the best for me,” Reich said.
Both arrived with experience representing their communities and families who had helped them get there.
An older sister encouraged Wapskineh to enter her first pageant, Junior Miss Seminole Nation. Her first Seminole dress was also a sister’s work.
Her sisters continue to make many of the dresses she wears, spending hours sewing fabric, rickrack and intricate patchwork. For Wapskineh, wearing those garments is a way to represent the siblings who helped raise and encourage her.
“I hope I’m making my little siblings and my big siblings proud doing this,” she said.
She thinks often about the opportunities she has received that her older sisters did not, and about the role they played in making those opportunities possible.
“I have a whole village behind me that supports me through it all,” Wapskineh said.
Reich’s mother and grandmother have worked alongside her in service to their nation, too. Together, the three helped create something now recited at official Choctaw Nation gatherings.
Reich was 15 when she helped write the nation’s flag pledge with her mother, Melissa, and her grandmother, Lillie Ott. The language preservation project earned her the Girl Scout Gold Award.
The Choctaw Tribal Council unanimously approved the official flag salute on Oct. 14, 2023. It honors the nation’s faith, family and culture and follows the U.S. Pledge of Allegiance at official meetings.
Reich remembers wondering whether the proposal would even reach the chief’s desk. Seeing it adopted changed what she believed a teenager from a small town could accomplish.
It also gave her an experience to draw upon when encouraging younger children.
“You can do hard things, you can do big things,” Reich said.
Her own progress through tribal pageants required persistence. She began competing at age 8 and twice finished as first runner-up in her district’s Little Miss competition. On her third attempt, she won the district title and went on to become the 2018-19 Little Miss Choctaw Nation.
She later served as the 2024 Junior Miss Indian Oklahoma, representing Native communities across the state. Those experiences helped her understand the responsibilities of being a goodwill ambassador.
“It’s not just you stand on stage and you wave,” Reich said. “You’re actually talking and representing the tribe in a professional manner.”
At SSC, both students are extending that experience through the President’s Leadership Class.
For Reich, the program has introduced her to classmates whose ambitions encourage her own.
“Seeing other students that come from places all over the state that want to make a difference and that want to go places, it’s really encouraging,” she said.
Wapskineh’s college leadership opportunities have taken her into conversations with leaders across Oklahoma. In February, she represented SSC at the George and Donna Nigh Leadership Academy in Oklahoma City. The four-day program included community service, meetings with state leaders and a visit to the Oklahoma Capitol, where students met with the Women’s Legislative Caucus.
In those settings, Wapskineh said, she thinks about the family and tribal community she represents.
“I’m hoping I get to use what they taught me and to carry that on through big spaces,” she said.
Balancing those opportunities with her first year of college also taught her something about herself.
“I’ve learned I can take on a lot more than I ever thought I could,” Wapskineh said.
Their friendship gives them someone who understands the pressure that comes with representing a nation.
“We’re always expected to be sunshine and rainbows,” Wapskineh said.
With the fellow princesses they call their “sash sisters,” she said, they can talk candidly about difficult days and take a breather.
That support runs both ways. Both students described learning from the younger titleholders serving alongside them. Reich’s group includes an energetic 8-year-old Little Miss and a Junior Miss whose positive outlook encourages her.
“I’m learning just as much from them as I hope that they’re learning from me,” Reich said.
Wapskineh has watched younger princesses grow more confident speaking publicly and representing their communities. Supporting young people is also what draws her to elementary education.
“I want you to know where you come from so you can go further into this world and pursue your dreams and not just think that you have to stay where you are,” she said.
Wapskineh has another goal ahead of her: competing for Miss Indian Oklahoma, which is set to take place on Nov. 14.
Their next steps could bring them to the same campus again. Reich plans to transfer to the University of Central Oklahoma to study forensic molecular biology. UCO is also among the universities Wapskineh is considering. Both hope to continue participating in college leadership programs.
Wapskineh has seen former tribal princesses remain close long after their reigns, helping one another through the next stages of their lives. She hopes she and Reich will do the same.
“It’d be awesome to stay friends throughout our whole life,” she said.
