Copyright © 2007 NLThomas
All Rights Reserved
By Will Chavez, Cherokee Phoenix Staff Writer
Copyright © 2007 Phoenix/CNO
She said her schedule has been busy as she prepares for the pageant while fulfilling her weekly duties as Miss Missouri. During the competition, she will be interviewed by a committee, model a swimsuit and evening gown, perform her talent and answer an onstage question. "My year has gone by so fast. I feel like I was crowned last month, and I feel like a week ago I was saying I have until January to prepare for Miss America. Now I'm counting down the days," she said. French has much pageant experience to use in her preparing for the Miss America competition. She won the Miss Teen Arkansas pageant in 2004 and competed in the Miss Teen USA pageant where she took home the Miss Photogenic award. However, her Cherokee roots are in Sequoyah County. Her maternal grandmother Addie Griffin and her 99-year old great-grandmother Louis Cheek live in Sallisaw, Okla. French said her great-grandmother is the most influential person in her life. "Through her life experiences 'Granny Louie' has shared her humor, wisdom and zest for life with her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren," she said. The 21-year-old was born in Dallas and raised in Hot Springs, Ark., but now calls Columbia, Mo., home. Her parents are David and Melinda French of Hot Springs. French said she is "very proud" of her Cherokee heritage. She is a descendent of George and Nancy Blair. George lived in North Carolina before the Trail of Tears and survived the forced removal, but his wife Sarah died and their youngest child Amy disappeared during the removal. George and his remaining four children settled near Evansville, Ark., where he married Sarah's half sister Nancy Blythe. They had nine children. The Blairs moved to the Sequoyah District and bought the home of Cherokee statesman and linguist Sequoyah near Sallisaw where they raised their children. George represented the Cherokee people on the Cherokee National Council, was a judge for the Sequoyah District and served as an interpreter. The Sequoyah home site remained with the Blair family for four generations. After he inherited the home site, Tom Blair Matherson, French's great-great grandfather donated 10 acres to the Oklahoma Historical Society to preserve Sequoyah's home. The Blair Cemetery is a part of the property. "My grandmother would take me to the museum, so I've always known a lot about the history of it," she said. French won the title of Miss Missouri in June and has been busy making personal appearances throughout that state. She is also a student at the University of Missouri in Columbia but was granted a leave of absence by the university to fulfill her Miss Missouri obligations. She is a junior majoring in broadcast journalism. "Hopefully I'll be national news anchor one day, but I know it's a competitive field. I'm willing to start at the bottom and work my way up," she said. "I'm making so many connections this year as Miss Missouri that I never would have before." Her platform is health and fitness promotion, which she said is a major part of her everyday life. Because her mother, grandmother and great-grandmother all have Type II diabetes and she knows Native Americans are more susceptible to getting the disease, it has motivated her to live a healthy lifestyle. People can visit CMT to view photos and watch an interview of French. She is encouraging Cherokee citizens to vote for her in the Miss America Smile Award on the CMT Web site. She said she believes being Cherokee makes her "unique," which she discusses during her Web site interview. "This year, being Miss Missouri, more people have asked me about being Cherokee because I put it down in my bio. People ask me about it so much this year I've been researching it (heritage) even more." will-chavez@cherokee.org / 918-453-3961 |
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