Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition Features First Indigenous Model, Ashley Callingbull
Thirty-two-year-old Ashley Callingbull has been the first many times: the first kid from her First Nations territory in in Alberta, Canada, to model professionally; the first Canadian and Indigenous women to win the Mrs. Universe title in 2015; and now—as of last week—the first Indigenous woman slated to appear in an issue of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition.
“It feels great to be the first for a lot of things, but it’s so important that I’m not the last,” Callingbull told Native News Online over Zoom from her home in British Columbia. “Breaking these barriers and having to break glass ceilings, that's great and all, but it's so important to push that glass aside so other indigenous people can comfortably and confidently walk into these spaces.”
