Ashley Callingbull (born October 21, 1989) is a Canadian model, actress, and television personality. She became the first Canadian and

Indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...

woman to win the

Mrs. Universe Mrs. Universe is an annual international event for "the most honorable married woman". The event is open to married, divorced, and widowed women from nations on all continents around the world, who are between the ages of 18 and 55, have a family ...

title on 29 August 2015. She and her stepfather participated in the 4th season of ''

The Amazing Race Canada ''The Amazing Race Canada'' is a Canadian adventure reality game show based on the international ''Amazing Race'' franchise. Following the premise of other versions of the format, the show follows teams of two as they race across Canada and aro ...

''. They also ran in the 2nd Amazing Race Devon, a local youth fundraiser, in which they placed 2nd.

Life and career

Callingbull was born in Enoch Cree Nation near

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

in Alberta, to

Cree The Cree ( cr, néhinaw, script=Latn, , etc.; french: link=no, Cri) are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people. They live primarily in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada ...

parents. By the age of 10, she had consecutively won all Enoch's princess crowns in her community. She graduated from high school at the age of 16. Soon after, she began her University studies to pursue her Bachelor of Science, Communications, and an Arts degree focusing on drama and acting/television. Callingbull was also chosen as Miss Canada for the Miss Friendship International Pageant held in Hubei, China in September 2010, and represented Canada at the Queen of the World Final held in Germany also in 2010. She also represented Canada at Miss Humanity International in Barbados in October 2011. She used her fame to urge the

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: **First Natio ...

band government In Canada, an Indian band or band (french: bande indienne, link=no), sometimes referred to as a First Nation band (french: bande de la Première Nation, link=no) or simply a First Nation, is the basic unit of government for those peoples subjec ...

s to vote to depose the

Conservative Party of Canada The Conservative Party of Canada (french: Parti conservateur du Canada), colloquially known as the Tories, is a federal political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main right-leaning parties, the Progressive Con ...

in the 2015 federal election. Callingbull stated that the First Nation's concerns needed to be prominent in the campaign. While competing in Mrs. Universe, she wore a dress that aimed to raise awareness for

missing and murdered Indigenous women Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) is an epidemic of violence against Indigenous women in Canada, the United States, and Latin America; notably those in the FNIM (First Nations, Inuit, Métis) and Native American communities. Acros ...

, designed by Lesley Hampton. In May 2022, she become the first Indigenous woman to be featured in a

Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue The ''Sports Illustrated'' Swimsuit Issue is published annually by American magazine ''Sports Illustrated'' and features female fashion models, celebrities and athletes wearing swimwear in various locales around the world. The highly coveted cov ...

. She is also an actress and plays Sheila Delaronde in the series '' Blackstone.

Personal life

Callingbull has said that she "never had the perfect childhood everyone dreams of. I had an incredibly difficult childhood and was raised mainly by my mother and grandparents...It was difficult to grow up the way I did, but it made me appreciate everything I have and most importantly made me the strong woman I am today." In February 2015, Callingbull married Ryan Burnham in

the Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...

. The couple divorced sometime later. Callingbull says she was drawn to the Mrs. Universe competition because of its domestic violence theme. "I thought, this is a perfect platform for me because I'm relatable to people, I've experienced this myself and I'm able to speak about it," she said. "I'm glad I'm able to use this title as a way to speak for others that can't speak for themselves.". Callingbull was criticized following Mrs. Universe Canada for hosting Mike Tyson at her private residence in the Bahamas with then husband Ryan Burnham She also credits turning to her First Nation culture for helping her heal and find herself. In June 2021, Callingbull got engaged to hockey player

Wacey Rabbit Wacey Rabbit (born November 16, 1986) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre who played in the American Hockey League (AHL) and current assistant coach of the Saskatoon Blades of the Western Hockey League (WHL). Playing career Rabbit ...

. The couple married in September that same year.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Callingbull, Ashley Living people Cree people Female models from Alberta Canadian beauty pageant winners Actresses from Alberta First Nations actresses 1989 births The Amazing Race Canada contestants