Aug. 29, 2015 was an important date for Ashley Burnham. Burnham is Canadian and a First Nation women; her origins lie from the Enoch Cree Nation. On this day, Burnham became the first Canadian and First Nation woman to win the Mrs. Universe Competition. The Mrs. Universe Competition is unlike many beauty pageants. This pageant consists more of a woman’s charitable contributions than of merely physical appearance. However, this in no way strips this year’s winner Ashley Burnham of her iridescent beauty. This year’s theme was domestic violence and how it damages both women and children. The contestants of the pageant had to go through various vigorous interviews and discussions about this topic.
Burnham, who suffered from physical and sexual abuse for a great period of her childhood, felt strongly connected to the issue. Since being crowned Mrs.Universe, she has been using her voice to speak out regarding the injustices that occur toward First Nation Canadians. She has encouraged for First Nation Canadians to use their voices to vote out the conservatives in the upcoming election. Burnham also stated that Stephen Harper, the current prime minister of Canada, has completely ignored the amount of missing First Nation women in Canada. Burnham talked about that statistics of these women going missing and that she herself could be next. Burnham has also been tweeting to her followers and many First Nation people that it is time to voice concerns.
She even posted on Facebook:
Ashley Burnham also shared that she never thought pageants would be something she would participate in. However, someone had suggested it could help her charity work, so she began to do pageants while spreading the word on the causes she was fighting for. Burnham is surely a woman to look up to. During the entire competition, she proudly demonstrated her culture.
Burnham hopes that in the future she can create her own charity. Her vision is to create First Nation Youth Centers in Canada or in different reservations that need it. She talked about how many First Nation youth go to school and then have nowhere to go, which leads many to result to drugs and alcohol. Ashley Burnham is a great inspiration to women everywhere — she is not only a beautiful woman but she is a woman who treasures her roots and fights for her people and for a better tomorrow.
Photos from http://celebcafe.org/mrs-universe-canadian-aboriginal-crowned-5038/