After becoming Miss Canada I was able to use my voice and title to travel and work with youth across the globe. I was able to experience different cultures, have life changing experiences and it opened my eyes to what more I can do in my short life.

Recently crowned Mrs. Universe Ashley Burnham survived a childhood of poverty and abuse, and is determined to use her newfound fame as a platform for change.

Ashley Burnham, a member of Enoch Cree Nation in Alberta, was just crowned Mrs. Universe 2015 at an event held in Minsk, Belarus. She is the first First Nations woman and the first Canadian to win.

Enoch Cree Nation member Ashley Burnham has become the first woman from the First Nations to win the Mrs. Universe pageant, capturing the 2015 award at a ceremony held in Minsk, Belarus.

Ashley Callingbull is the first Canadian and first nations woman to win the title.

An aboriginal woman from Alberta has won an international pageant for married women. Ashley Burnham, 25, was crowned Mrs. Universe 2015 in Minsk, Belarus, on Saturday. “I’m so proud to say I am now the new Mrs. Universe 2015!” Burnham wrote on Instagram, following her historic win. “I am the first First Nations woman to win this title! I am also the first Canadian Delegate to win as well!”

The crowning of a Cree woman as the winner of the 2015 Mrs.Universe pageant is more than just a personal victory — it’s a chance to help confront some of the issues facing indigenous people in Canada, according to one band councillor.

Ashley Callingbull — Destination Stardom After Mrs. Universe
by 2Paragraphs in Culture | August 31, 2015

Ashley Callingbull
Ashley Callingbull

You just have to hear her tell the story at the beginning of this video. Then you have to see her face in the second scene, when she’s says “I’m never scared.”

EDMONTON — As soon as she returned home to Canada from Belarus, Ashley Burnham, the newly crowned Mrs. Universe, asked her husband to take her straight to KFC.

Ashley Callingbull, a young woman from the Enoch Cree Nation in Alberta, is an actor who has landed roles on network TV shows. Now, Callingbull has made history as the only First Nations woman to ever claim the title of Mrs. Universe.

Ashley Callingbull, whose married name is Ashley Burnham, was crowned as the winner in Belarus Saturday night.

She gained attention after becoming the only First Nations contestant in the 2010 Miss Canada pageant. She said that while she got a lot of support, she was also the target of racist comments.

Five years ago the Alberta Cree stood in front of a class of Oshawa high school students and noted she was representing aboriginal women in the Miss Universe Canada pageant. Stereotypes, she said, suggested she should be “a failure, a drunk, a drop-out, on welfare.” Instead she was there as an actress, model and motivational speaker.

Saskatchewan powwow princesses are commending a role model—this year’s Mrs. Universe.

Ashley Burnham has made history — two times over. This past weekend (Aug. 29), the stunning brunette became the first Canadian and First Nations contestant to ever claim the Mrs. Universe crown, similar to the popular Miss Universe pageant but catered to married contestants.

The Alberta First Nations woman who won this year’s Mrs. Universe pageant wants to use her title as a platform to speak about the kinds of physical and sexual abuse she experienced as a child.

Days after being crowned Mrs. Universe, Canada’s Ashley Callingbull has called upon First Nations people to vote out Stephen Harper.

Some believe that beautiful women in beauty pageants are there to been seen and not heard. Or at least, if they are to be heard, they’re meant to talk about ‘world peace’.

Mrs. Universe speaks up for indigenous women