By Jasmine Majoros
This year at the Calgary Stampede held a special meaning for Elbow River Camp, as 2025 marks the 60th anniversary of the First Nations Princess, and Pacey Strangling Wolf, 25, has the honour of representing one of the Treaty 7 First Nations to share her culture at hundreds of events throughout the year by speaking at engagements, school visits, and traditional dance performances. Pacey, a Jingle Dress Dancer from the Kainai Nation, also has family ties to Siksika Nation. Her Blackfoot name, Otsskoiikitstakaii, translates to “Blue Offering Woman.” She dreams of becoming an educator, with plans to teach either the Blackfoot language or drama to future generations.
As a cultural ambassador for Elbow River Camp, presented by Enbridge, the First Nations Princess also honours the historic relationship between the Calgary Stampede and the families of the Stoney Nakoda, Kainai, Piikani, Siksika, and Tsuut’ina Nations. Pacey will serve her term that begins on January 1, 2025, and continues through December 31, 2025. Throughout the year—including during the Calgary Stampede—she will attend numerous events, promote Western heritage and cultural traditions, and take part in valuable professional and personal development opportunities.
So far, she’s six months into her term, and it has been nothing short of amazing. Upon accepting her crown at the pageant, she felt more humbled just to have taken the chance at the opportunity, had she not been successful. Although public speaking made her a bit nervous, she is very honoured to have been chosen and sees this as a very big blessing to be able to inspire others within her community. Even though each Princess has their own sense of their journey with this role, Pacey couldn’t be prouder to be able to grow into the role model that she strives to be.
“I just wanted people to know that women can empower each other. That we can be the big girls, we can be CEOs, we can be educators, we’ve come a long way from 100 years ago when we weren’t allowed to vote, we weren’t allowed to do basically just anything. We were probably the most dehumanized people in all of North America, but to this day we are becoming stronger, and I just want everyone to be uplifted,” says Strangling Wolf.
Vanessa Stiffarm, who was also from Kainai and has been a Calgary Stampede Princess since 2016, will forever hold a place in her heart simply because she’s one of her biggest role models. Being able to share this experience with someone has been very helpful and empowering to Pacey. Whenever she’d have a question about something or needed advice, she always felt comfortable to be able to look up to Stiffarm for just about anything. Having her there every step of the way has helped make Strangling Wolf’s journey a fulfilling experience.
Although this role presents a very glamorous opportunity, Strangling Wolf emphasizes that this role comes with its challenges, the biggest one being the struggle to keep up with the hustle and exhaustion. Being constantly on the go has been somewhat of a test to her motivation. “I have to look at it as, you know, I’m here, I’m trying, I only have 365 days to represent this title, and I want to make every moment count.”
One of these memorable moments was getting to meet her committee members and discuss her parade leathers. This was a very meaningful moment as she got to design how she wanted her outfit to look. She got to use it to showcase important aspects of her life through it, one element being the sun and sunflowers to represent the love and connection to her late grandmother. This part of the role was also a defining opportunity for Pacey, as she is big on the idea of the concept of “modernizing Indigenous fashion and art.” Having taken fashion and art in school, she incorporated this part of herself through her outfits.
With only five months left to serve for the remaining year, there are still plenty of life-changing opportunities for growth and aspiration as a Calgary Stampede Princess. Pacey just hopes that this role will continue to inspire others and empower women within the Blackfoot community. One very important lesson she’s come to appreciate is being able to speak and have others listen, which is one of the greatest blessings with this role—having your voice be heard, as every Princess has had before and continues to have now.
