[1] She met her husband James Edward Pelly in the 1950s, and moved with him to Calgary, Alberta.

While recovering from a workplace injury in the late 1980s, she answered a casting call for film extras.

[1] Her breakthrough role in North of 60, beginning in 1992 and extending throughout the series and into several followup television films, made her an iconic figure in Canadian indigenous communities;[1] her character Elsie, although not always talkative, was wise, dignified and funny,[2] and Pelly was widely recognized as a scene-stealing performer.

[3] She was recognized by the Alberta Media Production Industries Association's Rosie Awards as Best Actress in 1998.

[5] She subsequently appeared in other film and television productions, usually playing an indigenous grandmother or community elder.