Chad Hunter
Cherokee Phoenix
After competing in American beauty pageants at the highest level, Cherokee Nation citizen Haley Jordan Begay is calling it quits, but the reigning Miss Indiana USA is far from idle.
Begay, 25, of Pittsboro, Indiana, is a high school teacher and broadcast journalist for the Indianapolis Indians, a minor league team and Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
“When I’m not teaching I’m sports reporting,” she said. “So I have two jobs. I’m very busy. I don’t sleep much, but it’s OK. I have fun.”
A beauty pageant competitor since the age of 12, Begay won the Miss Indiana title under the Miss America banner at 19 years old. This year, she was crowned Miss Indiana USA, which led to a spot in September’s 72nd Miss USA pageant held at the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, Nevada.
“After my mom passed away a few years ago from brain cancer, I told everyone I’m never doing another pageant, not without her here,” Begay said. “But, you know, it took me a little while, but I started going to grief counseling and healing, and that’s when I decided to compete again. On my second try I won and got to go to Miss USA, and I am so, so glad I got back into it just because it was the most wonderful week. I met a lot of great people and I got to represent my Native culture. I talked about being Native for at least a quarter of my interview, which was really cool. I was so blessed. I rate the experience an A.”
The national title went to Utah’s Noelia Voigt, the first Venezuelan American woman to be named Miss USA. She will represent the United States in the Miss Universe 2023 competition in November.
Begay says she “officially done, unfortunately,” with the pageantry.
“I’ve hit the peak,” she said. “I’ve competed at both Miss America and Miss USA. Those are the two biggest systems in the world. I can’t really do anything else. Once you’ve won your state title, you can actually never compete again. It’s one and done. Miss USA was my last pageant.”
Her focus now is on her career as a full-time broadcasting teacher at Plainfield High School in nearby Plainfield, Indiana, in addition to her job with the Indianapolis Indians.
“So I’m their host and MC, and then I call games on ESPN Plus,” Begay said. “The pageants jumpstarted that. I don’t get any nerves, so I thought, man, this might be a good career for me. My late momma was a journalist so I got the writing bug.”
A lifelong resident of Indiana, Begay resides in the small town of Pittsboro. She grew up in a mixed household, her father being Cherokee and Navajo while her mother was of European ancestry.
“I claim both,” Begay said. “I love my momma’s heritage. She has since passed so I like to keep her side of the family in my identity. But I love identifying as Native, too.”
Having grown up with little Native influence, Begay said she has “amped up” her study of Cherokee culture.
“I really didn’t grow up around it as a kid so I’m trying to make up for that now as an adult,” she said. “We didn’t really talk about it too much until I got older and started to understand kind of how rare that we are. Once I started to learn about it more, I realized this is something I need to be talking about and studying. I’m trying to learn my culture as much as I can.”
Her grandmother, Stella Coon Flute, was Miss Cornstalk Shoot – a title used before the tribe switched to Miss Cherokee – in 1957.
“I didn’t know pageants run in my blood, but they do,” Begay said. “When I was little, I actually had really bad anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder. I was just a really anxious kiddo. My parents just could not figure out how to make me feel better. So one day there was a letter that came to the house that was advertising for a kid pageant, and we decided to do it. I swear that was the day my life changed forever because I got on stage and I loved it. My confidence skyrocketed. Ultimately that led me to my career as a sports broadcaster and teacher. I don’t even want to know where I’d be without pageants.”
For anyone considering a foray into the pageant world, Begay says “at least try it one time, even if you don’t win.”
“I also say I’ve lost way more than I’ve won,” she said. “But even f you don’t win, you will walk out of there with at least one friend. It happens every time. Also, it makes you a better speaker. I am not afraid to talk to a crowd of five people or 5,000.”
Begay’s pageant platforms – which she says will continue – include grief support and domestic-violence awareness. She also pushes “uniqueness.”
“There’s not many Natives that compete, so being able to express my Native American heritage in the best way I can, that’s been another mission I’ve had this whole time, too,” she said.
This article was first published in the Cherokee Phoenix.