Marine Corps Honored at Powwow, Princess Passes Title

Kasey Atauvich, the outgoing Native American Marine Corps Veterans Association Princess, passed on her title on Sunday, November 16, at the Marine Corps Veterans Gourd Dance in Carnegie, Oklahoma, at the Kiowa Tribe.

She wants to focus on her schooling at Cameron University to pursue a career in marketing after graduating from Oklahoma City Community College with an associate’s degree in business.

Atauvich also comes from a military family.

“My grandfather, his name was Vernon Atauvich, and he served in the Marine Corps. He was in the Cold War with my grandpa, too. My grandpa, Carl Atauvich, he was also in the Cold War, but he was in the Navy,” she said. “But that was his brother, and that makes him my grandpa also, because my grandpa is Carl Atauvich, the late Carl Atauvich. And my dad, Gary Unah, he was in the Marine Corps also, and he served in Desert Storm.”

Atauvich said it was a great learning experience.

“I met a lot of Marines from different states, from different powwows,” she said.

Atauvich’s favorite event was the dinosaur powwow in Glen Rose, Texas, which she said was a lot of fun and made her feel special.

“That one was the first one they ever had, and it was the most memorable one because I was their special guest, and they had another special guest, and his name was John Redcorn, and he voiced the Native on King of the Hill, and he was supposed to be there, but it got cut short,” she said.

Three Marines escorting Atauvich at the Comanche Nation Fair was a highlight of her reign.

“Because I felt very special being escorted by three Marines in their dress blues,” she said. “And I just remember a lot of people were saying, ‘Wow, Kasey, you have a nice, you have a nice ride,’ and I'm just like, ‘Thank you.’”

Atauvich was active in the Native American community.

“Asking to sign language at these different events, I remember one year I got asked to sign at the Fourth of July event at Elmer Thomas Park for Lawton,” she said. “And then every year, FAM, the First American Museum, they have this Indigenous Peoples event, and they always ask me every year to do the Lord's Prayer, to open up their events. And then different powwows just asked me to be there, so I'm just representing by dancing and doing my sign language.”

She was honored to represent the Marine Corps Veterans Association, her family, and those who have served in the Marine Corps.