Aliyah Myers demonstrates Choctaw basketweaving while dressed in her traditional Choctaw dress and wearing her 2023- 2024 Miss Choctaw Nation crown.
Aliyah Myers is 22 years old, and she is the 2023-2024 Miss Choctaw Nation. She is Choctaw, Mvskoke Creek, and Cherokee. Growing up she would hear and speak Choctaw in her home and sing Choctaw hymns with her family before she knew how to craft.
As a youth, Aliyah started playing stickball (an indigenous Southeastern sport that was played by the Choctaws and other Southeastern tribes). Stickball worked as a gateway for her to meet other people in the community who taught her to weave, bead, make moccasins, and other crafts. She also learned a lot about the history and traditions of the Choctaw people.
Today she works as a cultural educator at the Choctaw Cultural Center, teaching crafts as well as cultural demonstrations to the public. Aliyah currently crafts in basketweaving, beading, flute maker and traditional Choctaw cloth making. While Aliyah loves using traditional southeastern patterns, she also has added a modern flair to her art by weaving basket earrings as well as a woven corset with matching arm cuffs. Her art both represents the past of basketweaving, as well as the future.
