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.”

You wouldn’t guess it, but the model, actress, and activist once had coke-bottle glasses—” the geeky science fair girl”—known for her “weird voices” and impressions, like Gollum from the Lord of the Rings, she says. She began her career doing voice overs for cartoons at age 12, before she ever felt comfortable enough to step in front of a camera.

The backbone of Callingbull’s life work has been in volunteer work and motivational speaking. When Callingbull was just 14, she lost her younger sister, which motivated her to start volunteering for the local children’s hospital and various other charities that helped underprivileged youth going through similar circumstances her family had gone through.

Read more about Ashley here.