In some cultures being a feminist is the opposite of being feminine and miles away from being sexy. But in today’s First Nations cultures a strong-minded and determined woman is as appealing and attractive as it gets. This stems from the fact that despite the vast socio-cultural diversity amongst Canada’s hundreds of First Nations, historians and experts largely agree that a balance between women and men’s roles typically existed in pre-contact Aboriginal societies, where women and men had different, but complementary roles. As non-Aboriginal settlers first arrived, they brought with them their patriarchal social codes and beliefs that unbalanced our way of life but powerful women still have thrived through time. Thanks to ground breaking activists and socially conscience female role models, the younger generation can stand a little taller, head up, eyes forward… like supermodels of life.

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.