Lazore for Miss Indigenous

Kanehsata’kehró:non Julia Kanathiiostha Lazore is officially in the running for this year’s Miss Indigenous Canada, the second edition of an annual pageant aimed at celebrating Indigenous women across Turtle Island.

“I’m just so excited to be a part of this experience, I think it’s a really great thing for the whole of Indian Country, honestly,” said Lazore, who is one of 22 contestants in this year’s pageant.

She was inspired to take part in the pageant after seeing Kahnawa’kehró:non Kahentísa’s Alfred participate last year. Alfred had shared her journey on social media.

“I just thought what she was doing was so inspiring, and she really inspired me to try it out,” Lazore said. “I followed her journey all summer, and I work a lot with the youth, so when I was inspired I thought maybe I could inspire some of them to get out of their comfort zone as well.”

Canada Aleria McKay, director and committee head of Miss Indigenous Canada, said that she’s looking forward to being back for another year of the pageant.

“It’s looking to be a really great group, they’re all very accomplished and they’re all bringing something different and unique to the table,” said McKay, who is from Six Nations. “It’ll be great to meet all of them, and interesting to see how it all plays out on stage.”

Contestants compete in four categories as part of the competition: an interview, a personal essay portion, a cultural presentation, and the presentation of a community scrapbook. All contestants will head out to Six Nations for a three-day retreat during “pageant weekend” next summer, where they will participate in workshops, go on educational tours, and listen to guest speakers.

Community member Wanda Gabriel said she was delighted to see the news that Lazore is in the running for the pageant.

“Julia is a beauty inside and out. She is generous of heart, a young woman dedicated to learning our language,” she said. “She brings a beautiful smile to all and a gentle and kind heart in all that she does.”

This year’s cohort was announced just this week, but Lazore said she already has big ideas for what kind of topics to touch on – one of them being the youth in the community.

“I’m going to represent my community, and I really want to inspire the youth to put themselves out there,” she said.

As an adult immersion student at Ratiwennenhá:wi, Lazore is currently working to become a certified elementary immersion school teacher at Rotiwennakéhte Ionterihwaienhstáhkhwa, where she also attended as a child.

“That’s where I got all my songs, my dances, my everything, it was a big part of my life and taught me who I was for when I grew up,” Lazore said.

She’s hoping to be able to platform the work of the elementary school and the language program in her campaign for Miss Indigenous Canada.

“I always say, I’m a superstar no matter what I do, whether I’m sitting in my class, cooking in the kitchen, or on the runway,” she said. “My real path is to be a teacher in the schools, but that doesn’t mean I can’t do this too and be proud of it.”

Community members can follow Lazore’s journey at her dedicated Facebook page set up for the pageant.

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