SWEETGRASS FIRST NATION — Lyrik Albert, a 15-year-old girl representing Sweetgrass First Nation at FSIN's annual powwow, was recently crowned Miss FSIN — bringing Albert's life-long dream to fruition.
The competition, which involved essay writing, giving a speech, dancing, and other elements saw Albert win the most points and was crowned with the royalty title on Oct. 21.
And Albert, though stressed by the process, told the News-Optimist she was happy to win.
"It's been a dream of mine since I was a little girl. And I believe that it would be every little girl's dream, to hold a title this huge, so I'm very happy that I pulled through with it," Albert said.
"And it was very stressful to get up to that point because I actually handed in my application late ... they probably wouldn't have accepted it if I wasn't asked by them to run in the first place," she added.
She went on to explain that although she'd run last year, family struggles held her back. And despite a family emergency this year contributing to her stress, she decided to run.
"We actually got some terrible news from our family and we had a few other family emergencies that were kind of getting in the way," she said, adding that although it was challenging, she was glad FSIN reached out to her.
And although she can run again, she says the reality of the win hasn't even sunk in yet.
"I still feel like I'm on cloud nine ... I'm so happy that I have the chance now."
