PEMBROKE — 16-year-old Trinity Locklear turned the primary Lumbee to be named Miss North Carolina Teen USA this June.
Not like many younger pageant queens, Locklear started her pageant journey not as a toddler, however simply two years in the past at age 14.
“My mother has at all times needed me to do pageants, ever since I used to be little, however I at all times instructed her no,” Locklear mentioned. “I used to be a really quiet child. So sooner or later after I was 14, I went, ‘okay, I’ll strive it simply this one time.’ My first pageant was Robeson County. And I used to be Robeson County Junior Teen. I received, and I used to be like, ‘Okay, this isn’t that onerous. That is enjoyable.’”
Locklear, who lives in Elizabethtown and attends West Bladen Excessive Faculty, spent the subsequent few years competing in as many pageants as she may, together with the Miss North Carolina Teen USA 2025 pageant, which she didn’t win. Throughout her time on stage and whereas getting ready, Locklear felt her self-confidence develop each on and off stage, bringing her out of her shell and permitting her to have interaction with the world round her far more actively.
This yr, Locklear took to the Miss North Carolina Teen USA pageant as soon as extra. This time, she took dwelling the crown.
“Everybody was tremendous good,” Locklear mentioned. “I used to be like, ‘I’m simply right here for the enjoyable.’ I’m simply right here to, you understand, characterize my tribe as a result of I’m doing that both manner. I’m doing that even when I don’t win; I’m nonetheless right here for my Lumbee individuals.”
Locklear introduced her Lumbee tradition to the Miss North Carolina Teen USA stage with a hand-crafted pinecone crown, a costume that includes photos of pine cones and dogwood blossoms, and a Lumbee flag held excessive for her state costume.
“Our regalia is conventional, so clearly I wasn’t going to put on it,” Locklear mentioned. “However I used to be like, ‘I’ve to have one thing.’ So I made a decision to make myself a pine cone crown.”
Successful the Miss North Carolina Teen USA pageant earned Locklear a totally paid scholarship to Mississippi State College, the place she plans to check marine biology as soon as she finishes highschool. She additionally earned a spot within the Miss Teen USA pageant, the place she didn’t place, however Locklear mentioned the chance to be on the stage representing the Lumbee individuals was sufficient for her.
“As a younger Lumbee girl,” Locklear mentioned, “I perceive how highly effective it’s to need to present who you’re, present your tradition and simply not really feel heard. I need to create areas the place everybody feels seen, heard, and happy with the place they arrive from, as a result of it reminds us and others that variations ought to by no means separate us.”
