Aiming to someday be crowned Miss Canada is hard work. Miss Universe, even harder, not too mention less likely. Imagine if you are Aboriginal. Chances go from slim to… pretty much non-existent. Actually, it would have been unthinkable 20 years ago but luckily times are changing. Today there are several Indigenous women going after non-Indigenous beauty titles, and some a gracefully succeeding. That is the case of young women like Ashley Callingbull and Chayla Delorme Maracle, both recent Miss World Canada contestants. These impressive beauties were chosen for their looks but their involvement in these pageants go beyond walking on the catwalk in a bikini and high heels. They now have a responsibility towards their community and are now their Nation’s ambassadors. But are we converting to the global look of beauty?

Standards of beauty – now, there’s a truly subjective issue! While it’s an easy enough task today to consult fashion archives from recent years, the challenge becomes far more complex to try and chart as elusive a topic as shifting concepts of beauty among indigenous peoples, especially as they applied to a distant past when oral tradition was the primary form of history. Add to that the need to approach such an elusive subject with numerous different Aboriginal nations, each with its own, often-complex history, customs, tradition – and therefore, inevitably, standards of beauty. It’s a safe bet that some grey areas may well remain, even under the most arduous scrutiny. Yet, these quibbles aside, the subject remains an interesting one which undoubtedly deserves attention, if only to debunk some myths that have lingered on for far too long! Keywords: race, indigenous, ethnicity.