Sierra William, from Xeni Gwet’in had the opportunity to compete at a pageant in Toronto.
In the finals, William competed with 3 other pageant contestants for different titles, where she was awarded Ms Canada Charity.
“When I went to Toronto, I was super nervous the whole time. Throughout the pageant I was learning so much.” says Sierra William, Pageant Contestant.
“I really like the modelling aspect of it, which I was not only wearing my designs, but other Indigenous designs as well. It felt so surreal to be there.”
This started after William got a message from Hailey Wilson, asking if she was interested in joining a pageant. Her first thought was if the message was a scam, but after some research she learned that it was real, and accepted the opportunity.
“The whole time, I was thinking to myself is this even real?”
“I did a lot of self reflecting throughout the whole thing. I accomplished so much as a 19 year old, and I told myself beginning of the summer, I will say yes to every opportunity that comes my way.”
However, in the end William decided to turn down the title, because it’s a full time job in itself. Currently she’s a full time university student for a social work degree, and has her own business.
She’s currently working on having a modelling workshop in BC, with the help of her coach that helped in the pageant.
William said that she’s still involved with her community, and being a role model for Indigenous youth.
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