Whiteduck seeking Miss Indigenous Canada title after runner-up finish last year
By Sam Laskaris
BOWMANVILLE – It’s no secret where Meiyah Whiteduck would like to place at this year’s Miss Indigenous Canada pageant.
Whiteduck, a member of Algonquins of Pikwákanagán First Nation, was the runner-up at the inaugural event held last summer in the Six Nations of the Grand River.
Jessica McKenzie, a member of Opaskwayak Cree Nation in Manitoba, was declared the winner.
Whiteduck is the only contestant from last year’s event that will also be competing at the 2025 pageant, scheduled for July 23-26.
This year’s event will primarily be held in Six Nations again, but because the pageant’s final show in the Six Nations community of Ohsweken was sold out in 2024, organizers are moving the final day festivities to the more spacious Sanderson Centre for the Performing Arts in Brantford.
“I’m very excited to be back again this year,” Whiteduck said.
Because of her memories in 2024, Whiteduck was keen to take part in this year’s event as well.
“The experience last year was just amazing,” she said. “I think my biggest takeaway from it was just really feeling empowered by so many other Indigenous women from across Canada and hearing their story. So, I wanted to not only be able to have that experience to meet other Indigenous women, but last year, getting first runner-up obviously fuelled me again to apply this year and strive for the title of Miss Indigenous Canada.”
The pageant does not focus simply on appearances. Entrants must write an essay, are judged on interview questions, have to prepare a scrapbook about their community, and also deliver a cultural presentation relating to their hometown.
“It’s all based on your community involvement, your cultural involvement, and promoting Indigenous well-being,” Whiteduck said of the pageant components. “That’s what really drove me in because personally, like I’m really connected to community. I’m a Fancy Shawl dancer and a Jingle Dress dancer and grew up in the pow wow community. But on top of that as well, I am still on my learning journey, connecting to culture, and really honing in on what’s important to me.”
Whiteduck is currently living in the community of Bowmanville, located in the Municipality of Clarington, located about an hour’s drive east of Toronto.
For the past two years, Whiteduck, who is 25, has been working as an Indigenous student worker for the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board.
Besides providing social and emotional support for Indigenous students in the school board, she also assists with cultural programming.
Besides hoping to win this year’s title, Whiteduck said there is another reason why she returned to the pageant.
“On top of hoping that I win the title of Miss Indigenous Canada, I also want to be able to experience it again because I think it really helped me along my learning journey,” she said. “And making those connections [with other contestants] from across Turtle Island has been amazing because we still keep in touch and help each other out.”
It didn’t take Whiteduck long to decide she wanted to be a part of this year’s event.
“The turnaround was really quick from last year,” she said. “The applications opened, I think, like five days after the pageant was done. So, we were able to start working on our applications really early on. I’ve been prepping, I think, since about November.”
As was the case last year, entrants will take part in workshops, listen to guest speakers, and also visit area attractions.
All 19 entrants will deliver their cultural presentations during the final show. The Top 10 competitors will then be announced and they will make closing statements.
The field will then be cut down to the Top 5, who will be asked one final question each before judges select the winners.