‘It feels so good to see other people see us the way we truly are’

Stars of the hit comedy series North of North say it has been “the greatest privilege” to showcase Inuit culture on the world stage.

A co-production between APTN, CBC and Netflix, the show follows Siaja, a young Inuk woman living in the fictional Arctic community of Ice Cove, as she works to build a new life for herself and her daughter after abruptly – and publicly – leaving her self-centred husband.

Filmed in Iqaluit, the show was created by Stacey Aglok MacDonald and Alethea Arnaquq-Baril. It features a number of Inuit actors including Anna Lambe as Siaja, Maika Harper as Siaja’s mother Neevee, and Zorga Qaunaq as community centre worker Millie.

“We, as Inuit women, grow up seeing the beauty and knowing just how incredible our communities are, and how much love there is, and how much joy there is, and how fun our communities can be,” Lambe told Cabin Radio.

“So often, the North and Inuit were only represented through the lens of somebody from the outside. To show everybody what our communities are like from our eyes, with all the beauty and all the joy, has been the greatest privilege and such a celebration of community and of Inuit. It’s been so much fun and it feels so good to see other people see us the way we truly are.”

Qaunaq added it has been “a huge honour” to be part of a show that features diversity among Inuit women.

“If you went anywhere in the world before North of North and asked, ‘can you picture an Inuk woman [and] describe her?’ they probably would have limited information about what that means to them,” she said.

“But now they have a smorgasbord of people who are really messy and brash, to people who are perfect and prim and super girly, to someone who’s really rough.”

Elements of Inuit culture featured on North of North include Inuktitut, muktuk, Greenlandic mask dancing, seal hunting, throat singing, traditional tattoos and even a game of walrus dick baseball.

Inuk sea goddess Nuliajuk – portrayed by singer, artist and author Tanya Tagaq – appears to Siaja several times with long, flowing hair. The show’s enviable wardrobe, made by artists from across the Arctic, has gained attention from publications such as Elle Canada and Vogue.

Viewers can get a glimpse of other realities of northern life like shopping at the local dump, municipal water issues, tight-knit communities where everyone knows your business, the complicated dating scene, and some tourists and workers from the south being clueless about the North.

While the comedy series looks at the lighter side of life, it also deals with heavy topics like the impacts of colonialism and residential school and family disruption.

“I always think that the harder things are also really rooted in comedy,” Harper said. “As heartbreaking as some of the scenes can be, I think it really does level out the comedy as well.”

Qaunaq said the show reflects real life where “every day is a mixed bag.”

“One of the reasons I feel like it’s so successful is because we’ve embedded our view on the world as Inuit into how we tell the story, which is why there’s drama and comedy mixed together.”

The first season of North of North has been a commercial and critical success in Canada and abroad, reaching Netflix top 10 lists in 33 countries, earning a rare 100-percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and becoming the most-watched new original series on CBC Gem. The show also nabbed nine Canadian Screen Awards.

“It’s wild to get messages from people all over the world that enjoy the show,” Harper said, describing the experience as “a little surreal.”

Quanaq said the success of the show has been “delightfully surprising” and has fostered cross-cultural exchange.

“‘I’m so excited to hear about other people in the world and hear their stories,” she said. “I forget until people say, ‘wow, I saw your show and I love [it].’ They have questions about us and [are] curious about how we live. And we find so much in common because we’re all humans, right?”

For Lambe, getting together with other cast and crew members to celebrate has been a highlight.

“The show is so unbelievably hard to make, and to get flowers and to be recognized by your peers in the industry across the country was a really beautiful experience,” she said.

The first two episodes of season two of North of North recently debuted on CBC and APTN, with the new season expected to launch globally on Netflix later this fall.

Following season one’s world-building and exploration of what the North is like, Lambe said the second season expands character development.

“We get to know all of these characters and their relationships and their histories so much better, and we just get a real deep dive into why people are the way they are, which is one of my favourite parts of season two.”

Q&A: North of North creators on what to expect from season two

“Any scenes that I’m with Elisapie in, if you see them, whatever emotion I’m showing is real,” Quanaq said. “I’m not even acting, I’m so happy to see her. She’s a beautiful soul.”

Bruce McCulloch of Kids in the Hall fame guest stars in season two as Military Mitch, an instructor hired to teach first aid at the community centre. Quanaq described him as “a sweetheart” who was generous with advice and “a trooper” who kept going while having to perform stunts outside despite facing frostbite on “the scariest, coldest day.”

“It was so impressive,” she said. “I was like, I want to be like this cool guy.”