On her own terms: Evangelisto’s road to Miss America

Miss MN and Miss Winona Photo by Chris Rogers

Miss Minnesota and former Miss Winona Rachel Evangelisto speaks at a Winona Senior High School football game in October, where she was working with the Winona County Alliance for Substance Abuse Prevention to encourage young people to make healthy choices.

by CHRIS ROGERS Dec 14, 2022

On Thursday, past Miss Winona and current Miss Minnesota Rachel Evangelisto will take her shot at becoming the next Miss America. Evangelisto has already made history, however, as the first Native American to be crowned Miss Minnesota. She’s one of only a few Miss Winonas to wear the North Star State’s crown and sash in the Winona program’s 76-year history, and she’s making the most of her new platform.

Evangelisto was used to being on stage, but the sudden notoriety of being named Miss Minnesota in June was something else. “It’s absolutely life-changing,” she said. “It changed very quickly overnight. I think the first month — I’ll be entirely honest — I was so overwhelmed because this is one of the highest turnover jobs. There’s a new person every year, and there’s no training. No one is walking through everything you’ve got to do. You have to figure it out.” She added, “I had to take a little bit of a break from social media just to kind of get my bearings with what was happening, but as soon as I sort of found my footing, I really took off with it.”

Since then, Miss Minnesota has been traveling across the state for parades and gatherings. Evangelisto was in Winona this fall at a Winona Senior High School football game and the Winona State University Homecoming Parade, as well as a Miss Winona event wishing her luck on the upcoming national contest. “I love going to communities and getting to be a part of it for a day,” she said. “I think probably the coolest events I’ve done so far, definitely for me, have been powwows that I have been invited to.”

Evangelisto is halfway through her goal of visiting all 11 of Minnesota’s Indigenous nations, and one of her most memorable experiences was at the Tinta Winta Wacipi (wa chee pee) at Prairie Island Indian Community. “It was the first time any Indigenous person ever got to take the crown and sash into the sacred circle,” Evangelisto said, referring to the center of the wacipi’s grand entry, where only dancers, elders, veterans, and respected figures are allowed. “It was also the first time I had ever been in one, and I just remember feeling so much gratitude and joy that I got to be the first person to do that. I remember crying the entire time. It was very, very emotional. But I think it was the culmination of everything I have worked so hard for.”

A member of the Standing Rock Nation, Evangelisto grew up in Rapid City, S.D., near the Black Hills in western South Dakota. “You know, Rapid City is not the best place for Indigenous people. There’s a lot of racism, and I definitely grew up within that culture and within that negative narrative,” she said. “I really felt that for a long time that there was only so much people would even allow me to do as an Indigenous person, and I remember being kind of ashamed about it.”

One day, Evangelisto’s friend, Amber, who is also Native, signed up for a pageant. “I thought she was beautiful and really smart, and I just wanted to be just like her. So I signed up for one too,” Evangelisto recalled. “And it was pretty terrifying, to be honest. I did not do very well. I think I lost my first seven competitions, I’m pretty sure. But I really enjoyed it. It was a way for me to push myself and grow and get out of negativity. And it was also a platform for me to tell people who I am versus people trying to define who I am.”

Evangelisto went on to graduate from the University of Minnesota, Morris in 2019 and work full-time as an Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) guardian ad litem in Minneapolis, Minn. At first, it just seemed like a good job. “Little did I know that it would become my biggest life passion,” she said.

Guardians ad litem work in all kinds of child protection cases to represent the interests of children. Given America’s traumatic history with the forced removal of Native children from their families into boarding schools that separated kids from their culture, when child protection cases remove Native children from their parents today, special efforts are made to pair those children with guardians ad litem who are familiar with the child’s culture and Native communities.

In her work, Evangelisto gets to know children and families and helps support them in court. One of the most rewarding parts of the job is seeing families reunify, she said. “To get to see a mom become sober and chose to live a life for her child and really fight for that life … I just get goosebumps talking about that,” she said. “It doesn’t happen as often as I wish it would, but when it does it’s a really beautiful, beautiful thing. And when it doesn’t, it’s really heartbreaking. And I’m there to help kids get through that situation and be a shoulder that they can talk to and learn from and ensure that they have a safe, stable future going forward.”

The future law student is anxiously watching a U.S. Supreme Court case that could alter the foundations of that work. When Native children are up for adoption, the ICWA requires states to give preference to extended family members or tribal members over other adoptive parents. In a similar vein as a recent challenge to affirmative action, the plaintiffs in Haaland v. Brackeen argue those provisions aimed at keeping Native children connected with their culture are unconstitutionally prejudiced against non-Native families.

“ICWA is the gold standard of child welfare,” Evangelisto said. “I wish every child could be treated to the same standard as ICWA.” She continued, “So I think overturning it … it’s detrimental not only to me but all the community members I’ve worked with and every tribal nation that I’ve ever worked with. I genuinely hope that they do not [overturn it]. But if they do, for whatever reason, we’re still going to keep doing the work. We’re still here. People like me who care will advocate for that. So the work is not going to end; we’re just going to fight back harder.”

In 2021, Evangelisto was one of seven candidates vying to become the 75th Miss Winona. Her connection to the town dates back to her childhood, when she would visit her aunt and uncle in Winona. Candidates from anywhere in the state were welcome to compete in the local contest, and Evangelisto chose it largely because of the significance of Winona’s name. “I always knew about Winona growing up, and then as a Dakota person, I knew that Winona is a Dakota language word … It’s an honorary term given to the firstborn daughter of a family or a tribe,” she explained. “I am the firstborn daughter of both of my parents. So I was looking to be the first Native American Miss Minnesota, and I found a title and a town that I thought had a lot of really rich Dakota history.”

That propelled her to achieve her goal of becoming Miss Minnesota, when Evangelisto said she was “proud to be the representation that I needed to see” as a girl.

With the national contest ahead of her, Evangelisto is working hard to prepare: meeting with an interview coach every week, practicing interviews on her own two hours a day as well as her kung fu talent, and dedicating time to community engagement to show that she can handle the job of being Miss America. Leading up to her win this summer, Evangelisto set a reminder on her phone that went off every day at noon: “I will be Miss Minnesota.” Now that reminder says, “I will be Miss America.” On Thursday, she’ll get to represent Minnesota, Winona, and her culture on the big stage. “This is quite literally a dream come true,” she said.

https://www.winonapost.com/news/on-her-own-terms-evangelisto-s-road-to-miss-america/article_05d43a3c-7bdb-11ed-9d66-33fbae099d04.html