{"id":95219,"date":"2025-07-25T08:26:49","date_gmt":"2025-07-25T12:26:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=95219"},"modified":"2025-07-25T08:26:49","modified_gmt":"2025-07-25T12:26:49","slug":"it-feels-surreal-fort-nelsons-miss-indigenous-canada-entry-talks-on-readying-for-pageant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/25\/it-feels-surreal-fort-nelsons-miss-indigenous-canada-entry-talks-on-readying-for-pageant\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018It feels surreal\u2019: Fort Nelson\u2019s Miss Indigenous Canada entry talks on readying for pageant"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Ed Hitchins, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Energeticcity.ca BRANTFORD, ONT. \u2014 After months of preparation and legwork, a Fort Nelson Indigenous woman\u2019s chance to be crowned in a beauty pageant has finally come. Taylor Behn-Tsakoza is a member of Fort Nelson First Nation (FNFN) and announced her intentions to pursue the title of Miss Indigenous Canada earlier this year. Now at the event in Ontario, she says the experience \u201cfeels surreal\u201d so far, with the event beginning on Wednesday, July 23rd with orientation. \u201cBeforehand I was riddled with nerves, and was thinking \u2018what am I doing?,\u2019\u201d said Behn-Tsakoza. \u201c\u2018What was I thinking a year ago when I saw the application?\u2019 \u201cAfter meeting the girls [and] having an opportunity to just give a quick intro, it feels a lot better knowing… <\/p>\n

\n
\n
This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription – Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.
Register<\/a><\/div>\n
Already a member? Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Ed Hitchins, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Energeticcity.ca BRANTFORD, ONT. \u2014 After months of preparation and legwork, a Fort Nelson Indigenous woman\u2019s chance to be crowned in a beauty pageant has finally come. Taylor Behn-Tsakoza is a member of Fort Nelson First Nation (FNFN) and announced her intentions to pursue the title of Miss Indigenous Canada earlier this year. Now at the event in Ontario, she says the experience \u201cfeels surreal\u201d so far, with the event beginning on Wednesday, July 23rd with orientation. \u201cBeforehand I was riddled with nerves, and was thinking \u2018what am I doing?,\u2019\u201d said Behn-Tsakoza. \u201c\u2018What was I thinking a year ago when I saw the application?\u2019 \u201cAfter meeting the girls [and] having an opportunity to just give a quick intro, it feels a lot better knowing... <\/p>\n

This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.
Register<\/a><\/div>
Already a member? Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-95219","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"\n\u2018It feels surreal\u2019: Fort Nelson\u2019s Miss Indigenous Canada entry talks on readying for pageant - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/25\/it-feels-surreal-fort-nelsons-miss-indigenous-canada-entry-talks-on-readying-for-pageant\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018It feels surreal\u2019: Fort Nelson\u2019s Miss Indigenous Canada entry talks on readying for pageant - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Ed Hitchins, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Energeticcity.ca BRANTFORD, ONT. \u2014 After months of preparation and legwork, a Fort Nelson Indigenous woman\u2019s chance to be crowned in a beauty pageant has finally come. Taylor Behn-Tsakoza is a member of Fort Nelson First Nation (FNFN) and announced her intentions to pursue the title of Miss Indigenous Canada earlier this year. Now at the event in Ontario, she says the experience \u201cfeels surreal\u201d so far, with the event beginning on Wednesday, July 23rd with orientation. \u201cBeforehand I was riddled with nerves, and was thinking \u2018what am I doing?,\u2019\u201d said Behn-Tsakoza. \u201c\u2018What was I thinking a year ago when I saw the application?\u2019 \u201cAfter meeting the girls [and] having an opportunity to just give a quick intro, it feels a lot better knowing\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/25\/it-feels-surreal-fort-nelsons-miss-indigenous-canada-entry-talks-on-readying-for-pageant\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-07-25T12:26:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"725\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/25\\\/it-feels-surreal-fort-nelsons-miss-indigenous-canada-entry-talks-on-readying-for-pageant\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/25\\\/it-feels-surreal-fort-nelsons-miss-indigenous-canada-entry-talks-on-readying-for-pageant\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"\u2018It feels surreal\u2019: Fort Nelson\u2019s Miss Indigenous Canada entry talks on readying for pageant\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-25T12:26:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/25\\\/it-feels-surreal-fort-nelsons-miss-indigenous-canada-entry-talks-on-readying-for-pageant\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":606,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"National News\",\"ticker\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/25\\\/it-feels-surreal-fort-nelsons-miss-indigenous-canada-entry-talks-on-readying-for-pageant\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/25\\\/it-feels-surreal-fort-nelsons-miss-indigenous-canada-entry-talks-on-readying-for-pageant\\\/\",\"name\":\"\u2018It feels surreal\u2019: Fort Nelson\u2019s Miss Indigenous Canada entry talks on readying for pageant - The Turtle Island News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-25T12:26:49+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/25\\\/it-feels-surreal-fort-nelsons-miss-indigenous-canada-entry-talks-on-readying-for-pageant\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/25\\\/it-feels-surreal-fort-nelsons-miss-indigenous-canada-entry-talks-on-readying-for-pageant\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/25\\\/it-feels-surreal-fort-nelsons-miss-indigenous-canada-entry-talks-on-readying-for-pageant\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"\u2018It feels surreal\u2019: Fort Nelson\u2019s Miss Indigenous Canada entry talks on readying for pageant\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Turtle Island News\",\"description\":\"Your Source for Local News\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Turtle Island News\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/turtle150.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/turtle150.jpg\",\"width\":140,\"height\":150,\"caption\":\"Turtle Island News\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/TurtleIslandNews\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/newsattheturtle\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/channel\\\/UCOqB-hG3L6hRLsmqY0e5k0g\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\",\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Lynda Powless\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/lynda\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\u2018It feels surreal\u2019: Fort Nelson\u2019s Miss Indigenous Canada entry talks on readying for pageant - The Turtle Island News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/25\/it-feels-surreal-fort-nelsons-miss-indigenous-canada-entry-talks-on-readying-for-pageant\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\u2018It feels surreal\u2019: Fort Nelson\u2019s Miss Indigenous Canada entry talks on readying for pageant - The Turtle Island News","og_description":"By Ed Hitchins, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Energeticcity.ca BRANTFORD, ONT. \u2014 After months of preparation and legwork, a Fort Nelson Indigenous woman\u2019s chance to be crowned in a beauty pageant has finally come. Taylor Behn-Tsakoza is a member of Fort Nelson First Nation (FNFN) and announced her intentions to pursue the title of Miss Indigenous Canada earlier this year. Now at the event in Ontario, she says the experience \u201cfeels surreal\u201d so far, with the event beginning on Wednesday, July 23rd with orientation. \u201cBeforehand I was riddled with nerves, and was thinking \u2018what am I doing?,\u2019\u201d said Behn-Tsakoza. \u201c\u2018What was I thinking a year ago when I saw the application?\u2019 \u201cAfter meeting the girls [and] having an opportunity to just give a quick intro, it feels a lot better knowing","og_url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/25\/it-feels-surreal-fort-nelsons-miss-indigenous-canada-entry-talks-on-readying-for-pageant\/","og_site_name":"The Turtle Island News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/","article_published_time":"2025-07-25T12:26:49+00:00","og_image":[{"width":725,"height":483,"url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Lynda Powless","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@newsattheturtle","twitter_site":"@newsattheturtle","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lynda Powless","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/25\/it-feels-surreal-fort-nelsons-miss-indigenous-canada-entry-talks-on-readying-for-pageant\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/25\/it-feels-surreal-fort-nelsons-miss-indigenous-canada-entry-talks-on-readying-for-pageant\/"},"author":{"name":"Lynda Powless","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458"},"headline":"\u2018It feels surreal\u2019: Fort Nelson\u2019s Miss Indigenous Canada entry talks on readying for pageant","datePublished":"2025-07-25T12:26:49+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/25\/it-feels-surreal-fort-nelsons-miss-indigenous-canada-entry-talks-on-readying-for-pageant\/"},"wordCount":606,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#organization"},"articleSection":["National News","ticker"],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/25\/it-feels-surreal-fort-nelsons-miss-indigenous-canada-entry-talks-on-readying-for-pageant\/","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/25\/it-feels-surreal-fort-nelsons-miss-indigenous-canada-entry-talks-on-readying-for-pageant\/","name":"\u2018It feels surreal\u2019: Fort Nelson\u2019s Miss Indigenous Canada entry talks on readying for pageant - The Turtle Island News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-07-25T12:26:49+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/25\/it-feels-surreal-fort-nelsons-miss-indigenous-canada-entry-talks-on-readying-for-pageant\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-CA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/25\/it-feels-surreal-fort-nelsons-miss-indigenous-canada-entry-talks-on-readying-for-pageant\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/25\/it-feels-surreal-fort-nelsons-miss-indigenous-canada-entry-talks-on-readying-for-pageant\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"\u2018It feels surreal\u2019: Fort Nelson\u2019s Miss Indigenous Canada entry talks on readying for pageant"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/","name":"The Turtle Island News","description":"Your Source for Local News","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#organization","name":"Turtle Island News","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/turtle150.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/turtle150.jpg","width":140,"height":150,"caption":"Turtle Island News"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/","https:\/\/x.com\/newsattheturtle","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCOqB-hG3L6hRLsmqY0e5k0g"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458","name":"Lynda Powless","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Lynda Powless"},"url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/author\/lynda\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95219","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/101363"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95219"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95219\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":95220,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95219\/revisions\/95220"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}