The 2022 Calgary Stampede is just around the corner and the new royalty this year have a special connection to this community.

The First Nations Princess and Stampede Princess will act as ambassadors for the Calgary Stampede, and Treaty 7 celebrating the western way of life, here and abroad during their reign.

Calgary Stampede First Nations Princess Sikapinakii Low Horn is a 26-year-old Traditional dancer from the Siksika Nation. She is currently attending the University of Calgary as a Fine Arts graduate student.

Stampede Princess Jenna Peters works in the energy industry, who also competes in Cowboy Challenge events, and is a former Stampede Showrider.

Low Horn speaks about how she felt when she was crowned.

“It's definitely has settled in now. I'm really getting used to everything and I’m just really excited. Honestly, when I was crowned that was very shocked 'cause I felt like, I know I shouldn't, but I definitely doubted myself and I think it was very shocking to me,” she said.

“I felt very blessed and grateful to be able to have been picked to represent and be an ambassador for not only the Calgary Stampede but for my for my Nation Siksika,” said Low Horn.

This year the Calgary Stampede will be hosting a spectacular international powwow. Low Horn explained that she assumes she will be a part of the powwow and that in the past at the Elbow River Camp there have been powwow competitions as well.

“This powwow is going to be much bigger and so I have no doubt that I'll definitely be there supporting the dancers and I’m not only representing Siksika Nation, I’ll be representing all the nations of Treaty 7,” she said.

“It's very important to me being an ambassador for the Calgary Stampede and Treaty 7. It's also very important to me to be an ambassador for Siksika Nation,” she said.

Something that she hopes to share with the public during the stampede is her capacity to share her experiences through storytelling.

“I was raised with my grandparents and my my parents, my uncles and my aunts, whatever opportunity they had, they always told us stories growing up, and I think that's the one thing that I really, really enjoy doing now is being able to tell stories of not only myself, but of the Blackfoot people, the Treaty 7 people, and but the land as well and even the language,” said Low Horn.

Jenna Peters the 2022 Calgary Stampede Princess is very familiar with Strathmore has well. Having been a former Calgary Stampede showrider who has ridden at the Lausen arena.

“I was lucky enough to be a Calgary Stampede showrider for three years when I was 14,15 and 16.

And I was lucky enough to be a part of the Centennial year of the Stampede and what comes with that is the Calgary Stampede showriders traveled down to Pasadena to ride and represent the Calgary Stampede in the Rose Bowl parade and as well as Disneyland parades and just being able to wear the Calgary Stampede brand abroad and to represent this organization was such an amazing experience for me,” she said. “It really lit a fire passion in my heart to continue to do that. The Calgary Stampede is the reason that I am who I am today,” she said.

“I look at it as an opportunity to further myself as well as an opportunity to give back by ambassadorship and this role, really, is such an honor. It was something that my older sister had done before I did so to do this, and follow in her footsteps and share this journey with her is something that just means a lot to me,” said Peters.

Something she wants to convey to visitors to the Calgary Stampede this year is

“Sikapinakii and I get to challenge, maybe the traditional views of what this role looks like and so for us we're both very passionate about academics and there is so much depth to this role,” she said.

She said they will both be able to share their culture during the ambassadorship role and keep the western way of life alive.

“I think the pandemic kind of put us behind a little bit, but something that's so important is that personal connection that authenticity and Western values. Being able to greet somebody with a smile and shake their hand and just give them that warm, welcoming feeling that's what I want to make sure that visitors know is that the Calgary Stampede still stands behind that. It is still absolutely very important to us this year,” she said.

Peters wanted people in the Strathmore region to know that there is also a personal connection between the community and the Calgary Stampede.

For a number of years, the Calgary Stampede showriders have been under the direction of Jamee DeWitt who is a Strathmore resident.

“Strathmore is very close to home for her. I‘ve been to Strathmore quite a bit, so it’s a place of home for me as well. I did lots of riding out at Lausen Arena and it's just an amazing community out there,” she said.

“She's been an amazing attribute to the program for the last 10 years. I think she's changed the program so much and to have somebody in Strathmore representing Stampede is amazing,” Peters said.

 

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