By Tim Paluch, Journal Staff Writer
RAPID CITY -- When Vanessa Shortbull heard her name called as 2002 Miss
South Dakota, she felt more relief than elation. "They were taking forever,"
she said. "It was like a really long drum roll."
Shortbull, like most pageant contestants, had competed before in the Miss
South Dakota pageant. This was her fifth year and the last year she was
eligible. "Even before they called my name, I knew that I had come this year
and knew I was really ready to take on the challenge," she said this week.
Shortbull, 23, is the fourth Rapid City woman to win the pageant, and the
first since 1996. No Miss South Dakota has ever won the Miss America
pageant. Miss South Dakota 1950, Irene O'Connor, came the closest, finishing
as first runner-up. Miss South Dakota is more than a title. With that title
comes role-model status. Shortbull said she knows that. She accepts the
responsibility.
When she steps onto the stage in front of millions of worldwide television
viewers at the Miss America pageant in September - she says she's not
nervous - Shortbull will be the first American Indian to represent South
Dakota. She is Oglala Sioux, born on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation on
Dec. 30, 1978. "I take a lot of pride in (being the first Indian Miss South
Dakota)," she said. "It shows the changing times in South Dakota."
She believes she can use her position to make a connection with American
Indians and show them that things can be accomplished off the reservation...
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“If we don’t change direction, we’re gonna wind up where we’re
headin’.”
Reuben A. Snake Jr. (Winnebago)
12:35:21 PM
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