ᎣᏏᏲ Osiyo! Reese Henson is honored to represent the Cherokee Nation as the Jr. Miss Cherokee 2025-2026. She is the daughter of Julie Hubbard and Tony Henson. She is 16 years old and from Tahlequah, OK. Her Cherokee name is ᏆᎾ Quana, which means Peach.
She is a second-language Cherokee Speaker, graduating from the Cherokee Immersion School where she attended since the age of 3. This experience provided her with a strong foundation for her Cherokee culture and traditions.
Reese is currently a Junior at Sequoyah High School, where she is focused on her academics, and is a member of both the varsity volleyball team and the cheer team. Reese’s great grandmother, Beatrice “Cherokee” Hubbard, also attended Sequoyah when it was a federally-operated boarding school in the 1930s and 40s.
Her platform as Jr. Miss Cherokee is to raise awareness of the Indian Boarding School policy and the 60,000 Native children in the U.S. who attended, like her great-grandmother, and its impact on language loss. She wears an orange ribbon on her sash as Junior Miss Cherokee to always highlight this dark chapter and share her language skills as a sign of hope for the emerging second-language speakers.
Reese also enjoys acting, wellness activities and loves hanging out with her friends.
