Lockhart native hitting the runway

Special to the LPR

From small town Texas to hitting the runway with her own designs, Kirstie Mattos continues to bring awareness to Missing and Murdered Indigenous People. She has been asked to be part of a special event, the Native Fashion show at the new Mitakuye Owas’iƞ (All My Relatives) Festival at The Levitt, on Saturday, July 8 at 2 p.m. in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Mattos (Taino), Mrs. South Dakota USA Ambassador, an MMIP (Missing and Murdered Indigenous People) Advocate, and creator of AstroSanti Apparel (named after her son), will be showcasing her designs and has been asked to be the model coach for the event.

Mattos will share the stage and be modeling for designers Kyrie Dunkley (Dakota/Lakota), Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate, owner of Shinin Star Style, and Yolanda Old Dwarf (Crow, Apsaalooke Nation), owner of Sweet Sage Woman.

Mattos will be taking several of her students from St. Joseph’s Indian school as models and giving them an opportunity to shine on stage.

“My goal is to eventually teach my students to design their own clothing and to put on our own fashion show in the near future,” Mattos said.

The new Mitakuye Oyás’iŋ (All My Relatives) Festival at the Levitt is a two-day celebration of Native American music, culture, and art. Find more information at levittsiouxfalls.org/all-my-relatives/.

Mattos and her husband, Alan Martinez, and their two-year-old son, Astraios, moved to Chamberlain, South Dakota last year. She left a career in engineering to become a House Parent at St. Joseph’s Indiana School.

Mattos, who will compete at the USA Ambassador Pageant July 23-29 in Orlando, Florida after winning the South Dakota Pageant earlier this year. She is a 2011 graduate of Lockhart High School, and the daughter of Angel Mattos and Daisy Mireles, and granddaughter of Jimmy and Toni Mireles (Guadalupanos of Lockhart’s St. Mary’s Catholic Church).