Quick Facts
Biography
Vanessa Short Bull (born December 30, 1978) is an American beauty pageant titleholder who served as both Miss South Dakota 2002 and Miss South Dakota USA.
Personal life
Vanessa Short Bull was born in Pine Ridge, South Dakota to Thomas(former state senator and current president of Oglala Lakota College) and Darlene Short Bull. Short Bull is an Oglala Sioux Native American, a descendant of Oglala Chief Red Cloud and Ghost Dance leader Arnold Short Bull.
Her family is from the Pine Ridge Reservation, although she hasn't been living there since she was 6 and currently resides in Rapid City, South Dakota. She took ten years of ballet classes at New York City's Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.
Pageantry
Short Bull was the first Native American to have the title of Miss South Dakota, winning the title in 2002.