This summer marks the first Morley Pride celebration on the Stoney Nakoda Nation, held at the Stoney Nakoda Resort & Casino, located on the corner of the TransCanada Highway and Highway #40. Co-Coordinator of Morley Pride Cleavon Abraham couldn’t be more elated for the event to kick off.
"This event is the first of its kind on my reservation – I do believe it is one of the first in the Province of Alberta – and I, for one, am very excited to help put this event together," he proudly shares.,
Both Abraham and co-coordinator Carla Pauls have been working tirelessly on the reserve, bringing together afterschool activities for children, yoga lessons for parents, the Cadets and countless other activities for the community to enjoy. "When [Pauls] approached me about having our own drag show out here I was a little hesitant, because I was unsure how our community would react. She wanted to include the Two-Spirit community with the extra activities, or potentially create one big event for us, and she thought of me. She has been to the Banff Pride shows, plus the one show in Canmore, and she was impressed with my stage presence and wanted to work with me. After I thought about it and talked to my family, I contacted her and said, Ok, lets do this and the rest is history. Once we mentioned we are doing this event with members of the community, they were impressed and congratulated me and Carla for making this bold step."
Morley Pride has come to life with the help the many sponsors who have come on board to help financially and with promoting the event through respective channels. Sponsors include: The Nakoda Elder's Wisdom Society, The Municipal District of Big Horn, Banff Pride, Magical Music Entertainment & DJ's, GayCalgary & Edmonton Magazine, Calgary Pride, and Pure Pride.
Doors opened at 8pm with Elder, Tina Fox, doing an opening prayer, followed by leaders and community members sharing opening remarks. "After the remarks are finished, we [had] a live band as our opening act, and their name is Girls Got Rhythm Band," Abraham says.
The organizers intended to showcase local native dances for guests who travelled in from Calgary, Canmore, Banff, Edmonton and area.
The Morley Pride Drag Show commenced at 9pm with Two-Spirit Facebook sensation Dane Cunningham as host. Cunningham he is also a comedian, and performed skits throughout the night. The drag show was headlined by Morley's very own drag superstar, Argintina Hailey-Dior; Calgary's Club Diva, Visa De ‘Klein; Banff's Queen of the Rocky Mountains, Miss Ellen Q; and The Pumas with special guest star, the multi-talented diva, Nina Tron.
