Cree model rises above her painful past
Former Mrs. Universe face of new campaign by jeweller Hillberg & Berk Callingbull said it’s been especially powerful seeing herself on billboards at home.
EDMONTON— Diamonds are made under pressure — and Cree model and activist Ashley Callingbull says she can relate.
The 28-year-old from the Enoch Cree Nation is back in the limelight this fall as the face of a new campaign for Hillberg & Berk, a Canadian company that recently got a major boost when the Queen wore its diamond and sapphire snowflake brooch to meet U.S. President Donald Trump.
Callingbull appears in photos and on billboards to advertise the latest collection from the Saskatchewan-based company.
While being the face of a jewelry campaign is a natural fit for the former Mrs. Universe, she’s quick to point out that she draws from her childhood — which saw her sometimes collecting bottles to get cash for food — to do the outreach work that’s also part of the job.
Callingbull said she was im- pressed with the company for not only letting her model, but also for letting her participate in its programs for women. For one program, she was flown to Regina, where she worked with young Indigenous girls.
“I was able to share time with them and be able to share my stories with them and work with them . . . We all got to make our own jewelry together.”
It was her activism after winning the Mrs. Universe title in 2015 — including calling on Ottawa to address the injustices faced by First Nations people — that caught the eye of Hillberg & Berk in the first place.
“She really used that as a platform to shed light on issues that the Indigenous community was facing in Canada,” said Rachel Mielke, the company’s founder and CEO.
“We had kind of talked about her internally, and we reached out to her and she agreed to be the face of our 2017-2018 collection,” she said.
Mielke said Hillberg & Berk is a purpose-driven jewelry company that features women who have an incredible story to tell.
“Ashley is a powerful role model not only to all women, but also to the Indigenous community, and I feel very strongly that she is an amazing role model at a really important time when so many young girls need that,” she said.
Callingbull said it’s been especially powerful seeing her face on billboards at home — her sister first pointed out one in Edmonton.
“It was that image of me on a cliff, where I’m looking into the distance and my dress is flowing,” Callingbull said.
“She said, ‘You look really strong, you look powerful!’ ... and it was really amazing to hear my little sister say that about me.”
Callingbull still remembers the years of childhood abuse and poverty she endured after moving to Maskwacis, which was then called Hobbema, in central Alberta.
“A lot of days I was abused and a lot of days we didn’t eat because we would be picking bottles for food. It was really hard,” she said.
Callingbull said her life finally returned to normal once she moved back to Enoch to be with her grandparents. At the age of 14, she decided to start charity work.
“It was a way for me to heal,” she said.
Callingbull said her experiences have shaped who she has become, which is what drives her to work hard.
“I have younger sisters who look up to me, and I have all these young women and children who look up to me, too.”