Māori are showing Inuit storytellers what is possible when Indigenous people reclaim their language, culture and identity, says the co-creator of the award-winning Netflix comedy series North of North.
Stacey Aglok MacDonald, from Kugluktuk, Canada, says Māori have been a source of inspiration for Inuit communities navigating their own journeys.
“Inuit have such a love for Māori culture and we can relate to it in many ways in terms of language reclamation, reclaiming our tattoos and our sense of identity and culture,” she told Te Ao Māori News.
“We look at Māori as such great examples of what we can do to reclaim who we are and reclaim pride.”
North of North, which is about to air its second series on Netflix in November, follows a young Inuk mother determined to start afresh in a small Arctic community where everyone knows everyone else’s business.
“North of North is a warm-hearted comedy from one of the coldest parts of the world... It’s complicated and messy and sexy and really funny and hopefully a joy to watch.”
MacDonald told Te Ao Māori News she has visited Aotearoa and loves Māori culture and people. The series features New Zealand actor Jay Ryan and Māori and Samoan actor Bailey Poching, of Ngāti Whātua ki Kaipara.
Ryan plays Alistair, an environmental consultant who has a history with the lead character Siaja’s mother. Poching plays a friendly Māori character, Colin, who runs the local radio station.
For MacDonald, having actors from Aotearoa in her show feels like a way to bring the two Indigenous communities together.
“The fact they’re working on the show with us just makes me feel like we’re making Inuit and Māori come together, and that’s a dream of mine,” she says.
The series is co-produced by Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) and CBC and won nine Canadian Screen Awards this year.
“We were top 10 in several countries around the world on Netflix and we have a 100 score on Rotten Tomatoes. We’ve had so many great reviews from wonderful television outlets from around the world, but most importantly our community loves it,” says MacDonald.
Intergenerational healing
Beneath the series’ humour and messy family dynamics also lies a deeper story about identity and intergenerational healing.
“As Inuit film-makers, a lot of stories that we’ve seen told about us have been told from people who aren’t us. And people coming from the outside trying to tell a story about Inuit never quite works and never feels quite real and nuanced enough,” she says.
“As a mother myself, North of North is really about three generations of women: the mother, the young Inuk mother, and the daughter who are forced to live together. The story is always about finding who you are in healing your community in the most joyous and messy ridiculous ways. But ultimately it’s about helping each other heal from intergenerational trauma.”
Indigenous people telling their own stories
MacDonald says it is important for other Indigenous people from around the world to tell their own stories.
“Expressing things, expressing feelings, expressing our history – it’s a way to start conversations about a lot of things we still need to reckon with and talk about and heal from but also to figure out where we want to go now from here.”
She also says it can be interesting for Indigenous people to share their stories so other Indigenous cultures can identify similarities.
“We have a lot to learn from each other and there are often way more similarities than we realise, even though we’ve been colonised by different people in different countries,” says MacDonald.
“Colonisation tactics are typically pretty unimaginative and pretty similar. They have similar techniques. But we also can learn from each other about how to break those cycles and how to figure out who we are and who we want to be and how to take control of our lives today and in the future.”
The second season of North of North will premiere on Netflix on November 5.
