At 18, Cherokee Nation citizen Sophie Duch shines on the national rodeo stage

By Cara Cowan Watts for Cherokee 411

STILWELL, Okla. — At just 18, Sophie Duch, whose paper name is Sophia Duch, is already a familiar name on the rodeo circuit, combining mounted trick riding and trick shooting with a growing list of national honors.

The Stilwell native is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation and the daughter of Shawna Duch and Troop Duch. Her Cherokee ancestry comes through the Tidwell family and traces directly to Young Deer, also known as Ah’wah-tah, a Cherokee man born around 1790 to 1795 whose name appears on early survey maps of Cherokee Territory in north Georgia.

Streams and landmarks across present-day Forsyth County once carried Cherokee names, including Young Deer’s Creek, Sittingdown Creek, and Big John’s Creek, reflecting the presence of Cherokee families prior to removal. Young Deer later moved near Allatoona Town along the Etowah River and died in the 1820s. His sister, Susannah, emigrated to Indian Territory in 1832 under the Treaty of 1828.

Young Deer married Winnie Tidwell around 1814. On June 22, 1815, Winnie gave birth to their son John “Indian John” Tidwell, a mixed-blood Cherokee who would become a key ancestor in Duch’s family line. Following Young Deer’s death, Winnie remarried and lived in several north Georgia counties.

Indian John Tidwell married twice and fathered 17 children. In 1888, he applied for Cherokee citizenship before the Cherokee Citizenship Commission in Tahlequah, with testimony provided by his cousin James Hendricks, who identified Tidwell’s father as Young Deer. In 1889, Tidwell moved to Indian Territory and settled at Stilwell in the Goingsnake District of the Cherokee Nation. He later applied for enrollment as a Cherokee by blood before the Dawes Commission and was placed on the Final Cherokee Roll by Blood. He died March 12, 1903, in Stilwell.

Outside her Cherokee lineage, Duch also has a distant family connection to frontier figure Belle Starr, born Myra Maebelle Shirley, several generations back.

Duch has appeared seven times as a Bull Riders Inc. Finals specialty act and three times as an American Cowboy Rodeo Association Finals specialty act. She was named ACRA Specialty Act of the Year in both 2024 and 2025 and earned Top 5 Dress Act of the Year honors in 2024 from the International Professional Rodeo Association.

Her schedule keeps her on the road. Over the past year, Duch logged more than 35,000 miles, traveling from South Carolina to California and Minnesota, with stops along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, performing at major rodeos nationwide.

Her work has also reached audiences beyond the arena. In July 2024, Duch appeared in the Universal Pictures film Twisters and was featured in the music video for Ain't No Love in Oklahoma by Luke Combs.

Looking ahead, Duch’s top goal is to perform one day at the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas. She also makes it a priority to inspire young people to set goals and continue chasing their dreams.

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Cherokee citizens and supporters are encouraged to follow Duch’s journey and upcoming performances on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/SophieDuchTrickRiding and through her official website at https://sophieduch.com.

With a blend of horsemanship, determination, and pride in her Cherokee heritage, Duch continues to build a career that bridges rodeo tradition and modern entertainment.

Photos provided by Shawna Duch. Story by Cara Cowan Watts for Cherokee 411.