At 6'1" tall Jenna Talackova, a 23 year old blonde beauty and a member of Lake Babine Nation, is making headlines across the globe.
Talackova who is hoping to be crowned Miss Canada next month, was recently disqualified from the competition by Donald Trump, owner of the Miss Universe Pageant because she is not a naturally born female.
The disqualification came after Talackova was selected as one of 65 finalists in the Miss Universe Canada competition.
The winner of that contest will be crowned on May 19, 2012, in Toronto and will go on to represent Canada in the Miss Universe Pageant.
Talackova, who was previously named 'Walter' has had years of hormone therapy treatments, starting at age 14 and had sex reassignment surgery in 2010 and because of this the Miss Universe Organization said she did not meet requirements to compete. The rules for the competition state that an entrant must be a naturally born genetic female.
Speaking to ABC TV in the U.S. Talackova said, "I always knew I wasn't a boy ... that it just wasn't right. I felt that I was in the wrong body."
Recently Trump backtracked his decision and is now allowing Talackova to compete after she hired high profile celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred.
Allred alleged Trump was discriminating against the trans gender community.
The Miss Universe Organization have since issued a statement saying that if Talackova can prove that she meets Canadian legal gender recognition requirements and the standards of other international competitions then she is eligible to compete.
According to Talackova, the Canadian Government recognizes her as a female and her passport and Canadian drivers license both say she is female.
Talackova was born in Vancouver, but she has several cousins in Burns Lake, as well as a grandfather, John Perry.
John Bertacco Lake Babine Nation councillor is a cousin of Talackova.
He said he did some research into hormone therapy to understand what his cousin was going through.
"I saw the early stages [of her transformation] there was nothing to be hidden there ... as she grew into her teens she was always hanging around with her girl cousins, she never came to play hockey or baseball. She wasn't hiding who she was. She is who she is and she hasn't done anything to harm anyone. She respects people so she gets that respect back."
Bertacco said he has since spoken with a lot of Lake Babine Nation members who support Talackova, but are confused by the technicalities her transformation.
"They are proud of her and wish her luck, but some are a little confused," he said.
Lake Babine Nation has supported Talackova both with moral support and financially in her bid to win the crown.
According to Lake Babine Nation Chief Wilf Adam the band paid the $2,500 entry fee for Talackova to enter the competition.
Lakes District News contacted Talackova for comment but her publicist declined.