Former Otoe-Missouria Princesses form sorority

RED ROCK, Okla. – The first Otoe-Missouria Princess was crowned in 1949, since that time there have been 75 young women who have represented the tribe with some of them sharing the title in the same year. Now those ladies have formed a princess sorority to recognize the service of former princesses and to mentor future princesses.

Sorority President Verona Deer, who was princess in 1992, says she and the other former princesses had a specific objective in mind when they formed the sorority.

“I believe the original goal was to recognize the need for fellowship with former princesses,” Deer says. “Often times, we serve our year as Tribal Princess and then we go on to college, motherhood and join the workforce. Our year of being a representative for the Tribe just becomes a trivial part of our past.”

Andrea Kihega Mann, vice president and 2003 tribal princess, succinctly explains her reasons for working to establish the organization.

“To form a bond between former Otoe Princesses and to help in the Otoe community, work together to help preserve our Otoe culture, and to support the current Otoe Tribal Princess,” Mann says.

Deer also explains that one of the goals of the sorority is to encourage future young women to seek the title of Otoe-Missouria Tribal Princess.

“We wanted to recognize that so few are chosen and we also need to encourage the younger generations to seek this position,” Deer says. “We can carry on a legacy that seems to be dissipating. So few young ladies are eligible for this role and something needed to be done--something to recognize those who are interested and encourage them to seek the role of Tribal Princess.”

In addition to Deer serving as president and Mann as vice president of the sorority, Carolee Bible Pratt was elected as secretary. The position of treasurer is vacant. Officers are elected in January. Dues are $120 a year or $10 a month. There are nearly 20 members of the sorority in good standing.

“We would like to thank Mary Beth Glasco, daughter of Albert ‘Boxie’ Phoenix and the late Joan Grant Phoenix, for her donation to the Otoe-Missouria Princess Sorority,” Deer says. “She donated material to make the princess shawls. She wasn’t a princess but will be serving as Head Lady Dancer this coming Encampment and we are grateful for her gift.”

The sorority’s goal of mentoring future princesses will also come to fruition this year, as they have been asked by the 2014-2015 Encampment Committee to organization a contest and select the 2014-2015 Otoe-Missouria Tribal Princess.

“The Encampment Committee Chairman and some members--Jade Roubedeaux, Alde Robedeaux, and Gary Whitecloud, Jr.--came to me and asked if the Princess Sorority would be interested in selecting the new princess,” Deer says. “The active members (of the sorority) voted to accept this opportunity and I let the Encampment Committee know that we would be happy to assume this responsibility. Jade explained that the Encampment Committee voted to offer the princess selection to the Otoe-Missouria Princess Sorority.”

The princess contest will be held at the April benefit dance on Sunday, April 27 at the Otoe-Missouria Cultural Building in Red Rock, OK. The deadline for candidate applications is April 1. Eligibility information and applications are available on the tribe’s website at www.omtribe.org.

In addition to selecting the next tribal princess, the sorority has other plans as well for the coming year.

“We will also be working on continuing the Princess luncheon that was started by the last Otoe Encampment Committee,” Mann says. “I would like to invite all former Otoe princesses to join the sorority and take part in our monthly meetings. You can attend the meetings in person, via telephone, and the internet.  I would also like to encourage Otoe young ladies to think about applying to be the next Otoe Tribal Princess.”

Deer echoes that sentiment.

“We would like to invite all former Tribal Princesses to join our organization,” Deer says. “We thank the Creator for giving us the opportunities before us and look forward to the future development of this organization.”

For more information about the Otoe-Missouria Princess Sorority, contact Verona Deer at 580-723-4466 ext 123 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..