An Alberta woman has been crowned Mrs. Universe 2015, becoming the first First Nations woman and Canadian delegate to win the title.
Ashley Burnham, 25, won the contest Saturday in Belarus, where the pageant was being held.
Burnham, who hails from the Enoch Cree Nation, is an actress, model and former Miss Universe Canada contestant.
A day after her win, Burnham said she鈥檚 鈥渙verwhelmed鈥� by the positive response she鈥檚 receiving.
鈥淭here are people all over the world supporting me and it鈥檚 amazing, it鈥檚 the best feeling ever,鈥� Burnham told CTV鈥檚 News Channel on Sunday.
Burnham said she was pleased to be able to showcase her First Nations identity on the world stage. She said her culture is often misrepresented at pageants, so she wore her 鈥渞egalia to represent all First Nations people in the proper way.鈥�
When she first started competing in pageants, Burnham said people didn鈥檛 expect her to win, 鈥渏ust because of my background.鈥�
鈥淭hey didn鈥檛 even want me to be there,鈥� she said. 鈥淣ow I鈥檓 breaking barriers, I鈥檓 successful.鈥�
As a survivor of physical and sexual abuse, Burnham said the theme of the pageant, addressing domestic violence, resonated with her.
鈥淚t鈥檚 personally affected my life and I wanted to be there for other women, to have a voice for them because a lot of people can鈥檛 talk about things like that,鈥� Burnham said. 鈥淎 lot of people can鈥檛 heal on their own, they need people to guide them.鈥�
Burnham posted two photos of herself from the contest to her Instagram page Saturday.
"I'm proud to say I am now the new Mrs. Universe 2015!" she wrote. "So happy right now!"
Mrs. Universe is a pageant designed for contestants who are married.
