Jackson Free Press

What little girl hasn't dreamed of being a princess? Anna Barber, a 20-year-old member of the Gena Band of Choctaw Indians in Gena, La., not only had that dream, but she was actually crowned princess when she was 15.

Her dark brown eyes twinkle as Barber describes her first pageant. Barber's mother, Rose Blasingame, was Choctaw Indian Princess when she was 15, and her crown was on display that special night. Barber was dressed in traditional Choctaw costume—a long-sleeved, ankle-length dress decorated in the tribal colors of yellow, black, red and navy, and the traditional long white apron—as she answered questions about her tribe's history. She won the crown. "For her it was a really big deal," Barber says of her mother.

The former princess says the pageant fills a need for tribal girls. "It gives the other girls in the tribe an opportunity to learn more about who and what they are … they can say I'm Choctaw and this is why I know that," she explains. In recent years she has tutored tribal girls on Choctaw history. On Oct. 25 Barber will emcee this year's pageant in Gena.

Barber, one-quarter Choctaw, says it was natural to identify with the side that played the largest part in her upbringing. For her, the Native American influence was stronger. "I'm a Choctaw Indian. I'm a part of this larger group of people," she says.

The 2001 graduate of Choctaw Central High School in Philadelphia, Miss., is attending Holmes Community College in Ridgeland and plans to return to Millsaps in the fall to pursue her goal—teaching high school English. She says her youth will help her with her students. "It's not always about being in charge. It's about making sure that the people you're in charge of are happy in what they're doing and understand what they're doing." She hopes to ignite her own love of learning in her students someday.

Barber vividly remembers being a boarding student at Choctaw Central. "It was a complete culture shock to me," she says. Her small tribe in Louisiana did not speak the language and had lost many of the tribal traditions. In Philadelphia, traditions were important, and everyone spoke the language. Essentially she went from a school situation where she wasn't white enough to be with the white kids to a situation where she wasn't Indian enough to be with the Indian kids. She sat back, studied the situation, and adapted as she learned about being Choctaw. "I want to be here, and I'm going to make it," she says.