Miss Indian NAU Finds Home Away From Home
Many people are uncomfortable leaving home for the first time, and it’s not something to be ashamed of. Just ask Erin O’Keefe, the 2012 winner of the Miss Indian NAU Pageant.
O’Keefe, a senior with dual majors in Applied Indigenous Studies (AIS) and Communications, moved from Gallup, New Mexico to Flagstaff in order to attend NAU at the suggestion of her brother, a former NAU student. A bit uncomfortable in her new surroundings, O’Keefe began joining various groups around campus in order to further her career goals of working with Native American youth back on her reservation and educating them in environmental sustainability.
“There’s really that community feel here, which is so important when you’re in that transition stage from high school to college,” O’Keefe says. “I kind of struggled with that when I got here, that whole transition. I found that once I got involved, it was so much easier with all the support.”
Of the groups O’Keefe has joined since becoming an NAU student, two stick out: the Connecting Higher Education Indigenously (CHEI) Club, a student organization that serves as a part of the AIS program, and the Weatherization and Community Building Action Team (WACBAT), which offers education to students interested in helping the environment.
Entering the pageant
Joining these groups and becoming more actively engaged in the community gave O’Keefe the courage to compete in the Miss Indian NAU Pageant, an event that brings awareness and understanding to the many different cultures and ethnicities represented by NAU students.
“I’ve always known about it since I’ve been here, but I was terrified; I never would have ran, but after joining CHEI Club, two former Miss Indian NAUs from the past few years gave me insight into what they do, what they represent, and just how important it is,” O’Keefe says. “It’s a really unique thing, and it’s a really good, positive role, so I just went for it.”
The night of the pageant, O’Keefe, who is of Navajo and Lac Courte Oreilles Chippewa descent, adorned herself in a traditional red dress and moccasins, both of which were made by her mother. In preparation for the final segment of the evening in which contestants share a talent that best represents their culture, O’Keefe wrote a song in both Navajo and Chippewa that tells the story of the four sacred mountains and emphasizes the importance of each day.
Helping the campus community
Following her victory, O’Keefe now finds herself engaged in school-wide activities, leaving little time for her hobbies, which include listening to music and learning to play the guitar. O’Keefe says the positive outweighs the negative, however, and further engrossing herself in campus life has provided a multitude of great experiences.
“It’s been really fantastic meeting so many new people,” O’Keefe says. “It’s really good meeting other students who are involved in other activities, and it’s opened me up to what else is going on around campus. I’ve been involved with certain organizations, but now, I’ve really had a chance to get engaged with other events going on … and help plan for things coming up. I really love the involvement aspect of it so far.”