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Last year, Canada’s Miss Universe contestant donned a ball gown replete with hockey sticks, a scoreboard and a Stanley Cup crown. The year before, Miss Canada wore a Stetson and a bedazzled Mountie tunic.

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But after the 2015 contestant elicited cringes by donning a glittery totem pole costume, organizers tried to head off outrage by explaining that it was a Dominican-inspired totem pole.

“Unfortunately, there’s been a tremendous MISUNDERSTANDING regarding the context about Miss Canada’s National Costume,” reads an official statement by Miss Universe Canada.

“Yes, there are many different totem poles, NOT just First Nations totem poles.”

The totem pole dress was debuted during the National Costume segment of the Miss Universe pageant, which was held Sunday night in Las Vegas.

Contestant Paola Nunez Valde, a Dominican-born Canadian, strutted out in a feathery number complete with a hat reminiscent of a West Coast Thunderbird and a totem pole strung from a bejewelled bikini bottom.

Dominican designer Keyther Estévez wrote in a November Instagram post that meant to “pay tribute to the indigenous peoples of these (native) nations.”

Online, First Nations dismissed it as a cartoonish representation of native culture more akin to a Barbie doll or a Walt Disney film.