Sarah Ann Johnson, Miss Indian America XIV, will visit Washington March 3 through 7 for a round of meetings with Congressmen, Department of the Interior and Bureau of Indian Affairs officials, and Indian leaders.
She will fly to New York March 7 for radio and TV appearances, to attend a coffee Friday morning given by the Girl Scouts of America Commissioner of Indian Affairs Robert L. Bennett and Indian leaders will be a guest at a luncheon Friday given by industrialists who have plants on or near Indian lands.
Miss Johnson, 19, and a full-blood Navajo, was selected Miss Indian America during the annual "All American Indian Days" Pow-Wow held in Sheridan, Wyo., in August.
Indians from tribes all over the country go to Sheridan for four days of dances and displays of arts and crafts, with the pow-wow culminating each year in the selection of Miss Indian America.
Sarah Ann is typical of many of today's young Indians, steeped in the ways of her tribe and honoring its customs, while at the same time taking part in the non-Indian world around her. Born in Pinon, Ariz., she has eight brothers and sisters, and recently graduated from Winslow, Ariz., High School. She was the first Indian girl varsity cheerleader, vice president of Nurses of Tomorrow, and secretary of the Girls Athletic Association.
Between appearances at numerous conventions, fairs and pow-wows a Miss Indian America is expected to attend, she has been employed as a secretary in the tribal land investigation department at Window Rock, Ariz., the Navajo tribal headquarters.
The selection of Miss Johnson as Miss Indian America this year has special significance for the Navajo Tribe as this is the Centennial Year of the tribe's treaty with the United States.
Miss Johnson plans to continue college education after her reign, and eventually become a teacher and possibly teach in the same classrooms where she began her education.
The New York luncheon will have as honor guests Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall, and Commissioner Bennett.
William W. Keeler, president of Phillips Petroleum Co., and principal chief of the Cherokee tribe, will be master of ceremonies.
The luncheon is being given by executives whose firms are established on Indian lands, to acquaint invited representatives of other interested companies of Indian workers' potential.
Miss Johnson will leave New York over the weekend to make appearances in Chicago and Cleveland during travel shows there.
