Choctaw Nation citizen Averie Mitchell stands firm on Oklahoma’s sidelines
By Troy Littledeer | @candyminksprings
The sidelines of Owen Field are a mess of cables, cameras, and collision. It is not a place for anyone with bad balance.
Averie Mitchell stands there anyway.
Mitchell is a freshman, a citizen of the Choctaw Nation, and a member of the RUF/NEK Lil’ Sis spirit squad. When the band plays and the Sooner Schooner runs, she is navigating that space on a prosthetic leg. She does not ask for pity. She asks to be seen.
“I wanted to be the representation for limb-different people to show them that anything and everything is possible as long as you put your mind to it,” Mitchell said.
That kind of resolve comes from Hugo.
Hugo is the county seat of Choctaw County in southeastern Oklahoma, a town small enough that privacy is rare but help is automatic. You cannot really get lost in Hugo. If you stumble, someone sees it. If you fall, someone knows who to call.
“Growing up there, everyone knew everyone,” Mitchell said. “No matter what, there was always someone in the community that was willing and able to help with anything you might need.”
Norman is different. The campus is large, the crowds are loud, and for a student from a small town, isolation can arrive before the first week ends. Mitchell fought that off by bringing home with her.
When she puts on her uniform she is not only wearing school colors. The seal of the Choctaw Nation is on it — a deliberate choice that turns the uniform into something more than school spirit. She is a citizen of a sovereign nation standing on a field inside the boundaries of Indian Territory, at a university that was not built with her reality in mind.
“I have a deep sense of pride every time I get to put my dress on with the Choctaw Nation seal on it,” Mitchell said. “I feel like I am a part of something bigger than I am.”
November is Native American Heritage Month, which usually means institutions want to talk about history. Mitchell is talking about right now. She is proof that Indigenous identity is not a museum exhibit. It is walking around on the sidelines, navigating a non-Native world in real time, wearing a prosthetic leg and a tribal seal and not apologizing for either.
“We’re not just a historical footnote,” she said. “Our traditions, languages, and values are still alive and evolving.”
The squad demands long hours and physical discipline. Mitchell sees it as preparation. She wants to be a nurse — to do for others what her neighbors in Hugo did for her. Show up when things go wrong.
For now she is on the field, a signal to any kid in the stands who feels broken or different.
“It’s crucial to move beyond stereotypes and engage with us as individuals with unique experiences and perspectives,” she said.
Troy Littledeer is an Indigenous writer based in Stilwell, Oklahoma, and a member of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma. He reports on tribal governance, elections, and community impact across Indian Country, with a focus on people over government. His work centers on accountability and service to community members in Indian Country and surrounding areas. Littledeer also supports high school and NCAA sports, as well as music and the arts. He received the 2025 Tim Giago Free Press Award for his reporting. and a first place Oklahoma Press Association award for photography in 2019.
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