Okpik: Little Village in the Arctic

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Join Tasha Simms as she speaks with director Tiffany Ayalik about the new documentary recently released, Okpik: Little Village in the Arctic.

The documentary, directed by Tiffany Ayalik and Kylik Kisoun Taylor, follows Kisoun Taylor, his daughter Indigo and his crew in the creation of an off-grid community and farm that is rooted in Indigenous methods of hunting and foraging. Using local materials and traditional knowledge, Kisoun Taylor, an Inuit/Gwich’in hunter, will re-establish and re-imagine the lost practice of building a traditional Inuvialuit log cabin with a sod roof with the intention of creating housing security and an opportunity for language and cultural revitalization in his traditional territory of the Beaufort Delta. Implementing the Inuvialuktun language during the build, in all aspects of camp life and in the film was an important component that rooted the village in decolonizing and re-Indigenizing practices.

NEW DOCUMENTARY OKPIK: LITTLE VILLAGE IN THE ARCTIC PREMIERING ON CBC

Copper Quartz Media has announced that their latest film Okpik: Little Village in the Arctic will premiere on CBC Gem in Inuvialuktun on August 5th, 2022 and in English on CBC Manitoba on August 6th, 2022. “When the borders to the Northwest Territories closed during the pandemic, we had to shift focus as a family and as people, it made us look back and see how the land had provided for our people in the past and made the need for affordable and sustainable housing and food sovereignty in the Arctic even clearer. There is deep intergenerational trauma in the High Arctic as a continued legacy of residential schools, forced relocation, cultural genocide, loss of language, culture and racism. Through the building of the culture village, we were able to find pride and autonomy by living powerfully on the land in a way that has existed for millennia,” says director Kisoun Taylor. For the making of Okpik: Little Village in the Arctic, producer Caroline Cox spent many weeks living in a tent at the Okpik Village often working as the sole crew member on site, in order to capture important moments as the story evolved. As the producers on the film, Cox and Ayalik welcomed the opportunity to work with new and emerging Indigenous talent, including Nolen Rainville as location sound mixer, and Benjamin McGregor as Digital Media Intern and camera operator on the final block of shooting in March 2022. Okpik: Little Village in the Arctic was filmed entirely at Okpik Village, 16 km North of Inuvik, features both Inuvialuktun and English and will be premiering in both languages. Director and producer Tiffany Ayalik was also the lead sound engineer for the Inuvialuktun voiceover sessions. “In the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, the Inuvialuktun languages are considered endangered. Fewer than 20% of the population speaks Inuvialuktun, the majority of whom are elders. It was vital to use the project not only to tell the important story of the village but to use it as a vehicle to create language resources for the community. We were incredibly fortunate to have several elders both in front of and behind the camera working with the team to make sure important cultural and linguistic elements were accurately portrayed. Creating a 100% Inuvialuktun version of the film to be broadcast on a national streaming platform is the first of its kind and the team is honoured to be able to help make this important intervention into the Canadian media landscape,” says Ayalik, director and producer of the film.

About Tiffany Ayalik

Tiffany Ayalik is from Yellowknife, NT and is Inuit from the Kugluktuk region. It was in the North, listening to stories from her elders, that she discovered her love of storytelling, and the powerful change that hearing a story can bring about. After receiving her Diploma in Acting from Red Deer College, she continued her studies at the University of Alberta, and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting. Tiffany travels across Canada and has performed in Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Finland and in Europe sharing her blend of story, song, movement, and improv.

Tiffany hosts a TV show called “Wild Kitchen” where she meets interesting people who are closely connected to the land and the food they harvest. “Wild Kitchen” is enjoyed across the North and in 74 million homes in the US on First Nations Experience (FNX). As a host, she shares her Inuit perspective and land use teachings with her guests as they collaborate on harvesting and cooking a meal. As a film actor, Tiffany’s work can be seen at many international film festivals. In Canada you can see her as Daphne in CBC’s “A Christmas Fury” the spin-off of cult classic “Hatching Matching and Dispatching” and on CBC’s “Little Dog”. She produces film and media with long-time collaborator Caroline Cox and their company Copper Quartz Media based out of Yellowknife, NT. Tiffany is a Juno Award winner and often collaborates with sister, Inuksuk Mackay in their katajjaq (Inuit throat singing) band, PIQSIQ.

Your Host

Tasha Simms

Tasha is a Registered Professional Counsellor and holds a Masters degree in Counselling Psychology. Her private practice is in downtown Vancouver where she works with both couples and individuals. www.AuthenticSelfCounselling.com

Tasha loves designing and facilitating personal growth workshops for diverse groups and businesses. She weaves her skills as a working actor, writer and motivational speaker with her creative, body centered therapeutic approach to teach passionate expression and acceptance of the Authentic Self. Her focus on healthy communication and conscious leadership inspires individuals, couples and organizations to be the best they can be and flourish.

Trained in a variety of disciplines including Family Systems Theory, Gestalt, as well as cognitive and Psycho/Spiritual orientations, she has been practicing the principles of A Course in Miracles for over 20 years. She is known as a mentor with integrity who has taught many individuals as well as counsellors, locally and internationally to embrace their birthright of a life of passionate purpose, joyfully human yet in perfect alignment with their spirit. As a certified Master Neuro Linguistic Programming facilitator trained in body work, energy healing and hypnotherapy, her contribution to support this integration is an audio series called Body Awareness Training.

http://www.authenticselfcounselling.com/

The training includes a sensory meditation designed to wake up feelings in the body, encourage self –knowledge and acceptance and also to invite a deep experience of the Divine Essence that is at the core of us all. Tasha’s curiosity, compassion and juicy celebration of life are just some of the gifts she brings to her commitment to be of service.

Her history in radio makes co-hosting at Conscious Living Radio feel like coming home. Tasha was one of the first female DJ’s on-air in Canada in the mid-day spot in rock n roll radio at Q-107 FM Toronto.

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