By Savannah Peters ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) \u2014 Codi High Elk was a shy teenager most comfortable caring for horses on her family’s ranch on the Cheyenne River Reservation when she threw away an application to compete in a new pageant for Indigenous women \u2014 an application her brother fished out of the trash, sending her on a path to becoming the first Miss Indian World. That was in 1984, when High Elk remembers letting her six older siblings do most of the talking and wanting no part in a competition that required public speaking. But the event that transformed her from shy teen to an ambassador for her people has come to an end. \u201cFrom the day I got my crown, my life changed,\u201d said High Elk, who credits her… <\/p>\n
By Savannah Peters ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) \u2014 Codi High Elk was a shy teenager most comfortable caring for horses on her family’s ranch on the Cheyenne River Reservation when she threw away an application to compete in a new pageant for Indigenous women \u2014 an application her brother fished out of the trash, sending her on a path to becoming the first Miss Indian World. That was in 1984, when High Elk remembers letting her six older siblings do most of the talking and wanting no part in a competition that required public speaking. But the event that transformed her from shy teen to an ambassador for her people has come to an end. \u201cFrom the day I got my crown, my life changed,\u201d said High Elk, who credits her... <\/p>\n