A year as Miss He Sapa Win

Wanbli Waunsila Wi Eagle prepares to pass her title during the upcoming Black Hills Powwow

In 2006, at six years old, Wanbli Waunsila Wi Eagle attended He Sapa Wacipi or the Black Hills Powwow for the first time.

She’d just received her first title as Little Miss Standing Rock Community Schools one month prior and attending the Black Hills Powwow was the first time she’d worn her crown to represent at another powwow.

“I remember seeing all the older princesses and wanting to be one when I was older,” Eagle said. “My grandma used to always encourage me to run for all those princess titles and that was one of our goals before she passed away, was that in the future I’d be Miss He Sapa Win.”

On Oct. 7, 2023, Eagle stood in that same venue, the Monument Arena in Rapid City, waiting to see if her name would be called as the next Miss He Sapa Win.

Her mind was racing, questions circling, would they call her name?

“I remember a rush of anxiety,” Eagle said. “They were taking a while to announce it. I looked back at a video and you could see me fidgeting. I was trying not to, I didn’t want the crowd to know I was nervous.”

Then she heard it, and her name was called. Eagle was the new Miss He Sapa Win.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Eagle said. “Even now, a year later, I can’t believe that I was crowned.”

Seventeen years later, Eagle’s dream had come true. Now her reign is ending and she’s preparing to pass the title onto the next Oceti Sakowin woman.

Miss He Sapa Win is a prestigious title given to one young Oceti Sakowin (Lakota, Nakota, Dakota) woman each year during the Black Hills Powwow, one of the nation’s largest annual powwows.

This weekend, the powwow will kick off at 7 p.m. in Rapid City at the Monument Arena. Over 1,000 dancers are expected to make their way to the Black Hills to compete for over $180,000 in prize money. With them, thousands of powwow attendees will come to watch.

Miss He Sapa Win contestants can be from anywhere, as long as they are Lakota, Dakota or Nakota. Contestants are judged in various ways including their initial application, public speaking skills, essay writing, regalia presentation and dancing.

As Miss He Sapa, Eagle traveled all over the United States representing the Black Hills.

From Gathering of Nations to Denver March Powwow and Shakopee Wacipi, Eagle danced with thousands of others in Indian Country’s largest powwows.

She also spoke at schools, appeared on local radio stations and visited different Indigenous communities.

“I love traveling, and I grew up on the road a lot, so it was nice to actually experience it as an adult,” Eagle said. “It was amazing being able to represent the homelands, the Black Hills.”

Eagle has been dancing all her life, since before she can remember. Her mother encouraged her and her siblings to dance and engaged them in their culture.

Eagle has held all three Princess titles for Standing Rock Community Schools and served as the longest-reigning Miss Standing Rock from 2018-2023.

In 2022, she earned the nickname Maza Win, or Iron Woman, after dancing to more than 50 songs for three hours straight during the Rosebud Sioux Tribe Fair & Wacipi’s Iron Woman Contest.

“I like to pray while I’m dancing,” Eagle said. “I’ll look out in the crowd and see all of the Uncis (grandmas) and Lalas (grandpas) sitting there and I pray for them too.”

Two weeks before the Iron Woman special, Eagle’s grandma died, the same grandma who encouraged her to run for Miss He Sapa Win. A decade before that, her other grandma had died.

When dancing in the Iron Woman Special, Eagle kept both of the women in her mind.

“Those two are the main ones on my mind, they were both strong Indigenous women,” Eagle said. “So I just prayed, I prayed as hard as I could that they’d watch over me and make sure nothing happened – that I wouldn’t get dehydrated or cramp up.”

Eagle danced until after the sunset, feeling the blazing summer heat gradually begin to disappear. She was so lost in her movements and prayer that she didn’t notice she had a burr in her moccasin that entire time.

“I still have the scar to this day,” Eagle said.

Eagle’s dancing career is far from over, even though her time as Miss He Sapa Win is about to come to an end.

“It was just a really amazing experience,” she said.

On Saturday evening, Oct. 12, Eagle will pass her title to the next young woman. Until then, she’s still Miss He Sapa Win.

This story is co-published by the Rapid City Journal and ICT, a news partnership that covers Indigenous communities in the South Dakota area.