Full Transcript for Arctic Representation: A Conversation with Nyla Innuksuk

like the mountains were being like, You think I care about you and your silly movie? 00:06:37.040 --> 00:06:54.240 And it's just like even within like so much of Inuit mythology like this, like the idea of like the environment kind of you know taking its revenge, I think, is kind of just I don't draw directly from Inuit myth in that way. 00:06:54.399 --> 00:07:05.839 I think it just adds an interesting layer to just storytelling in the Arctic, I think, is is these kind of this this mythological kind of underlayer. 00:07:06.319 --> 00:07:12.480 When we're talking about mythology, Inuit mythology, it's spoken about as something that's very real. 00:07:12.720 --> 00:07:15.439 It's not told like Hansel and Gretel. 00:07:15.600 --> 00:07:18.399 It's these are mythologies that that exist. 00:07:18.959 --> 00:07:29.279 So when we were working on the script and and working with the girls and the kids, these kinds of stories just are in embedded in everyday life. 00:07:29.519 --> 00:07:38.000 You talk about shape shifters, people that take over the bodies or look like a loved one that that is close to you. 00:07:38.240 --> 00:07:46.720 Actually, one of the very first short films that I that I wrote and produced called Cayute, it was based on this Inuit mythology. 00:07:46.879 --> 00:07:50.480 That's actually the closest I've gotten to telling an Inuit myth story. 00:07:50.639 --> 00:07:55.040 It was about a kind of a modern-day hunter who kind of goes out on the land. 00:07:55.279 --> 00:08:06.639 He actually told us specifically about something that he still practices, which is when you hunt a seal to melt some snow in your mouth and put it in the mouth of the seal so that it has water when it passes on. 00:08:06.879 --> 00:08:09.120 I thought that was so interesting and beautiful. 00:08:09.360 --> 00:08:18.319 There's this idea that everything has a spirit, and that spirit is giving back to you and your family and your community, and so you want to give thanks. 00:08:18.560 --> 00:08:25.279 Having grown up with these Hitchcock movies where someone, you know, this normal person makes a mistake and then things start to happen. 00:08:25.600 --> 00:08:31.519 I was really trying to find a little taboo or rule that you could break, and then you have to kind of suffer the consequences. 00:08:31.680 --> 00:08:36.960 And so in this case, it was, you know, he was distracted and was unable to pay respect to this seal. 00:08:37.120 --> 00:08:45.279 And then this one creature from mythology, the Cayutayuk, we interpreted as if it was the Cayutayuk getting his revenge. 00:08:45.360 --> 00:08:55.440 And that's what I wanted with those with the girls, and that they would be talking about the Iq or Khalpilui, that those would be things that they would, you know, it's like, well, maybe this is really bad. 00:08:56.399 --> 00:09:03.279 And a lot of that stuff really came from working with the girls and in our conversations, those things would just come up. 00:09:03.600 --> 00:09:06.480 A climate scientist is like a first victim in the film. 00:09:06.799 --> 00:09:08.879 You could say anything about that choice and that character. 00:09:09.200 --> 00:09:13.279 Yeah, well, that was kind of one of these reverse-engineered things. 00:09:13.440 --> 00:09:18.080 I knew that we were gonna be going to shoot um the flashback scenes for in winter time. 00:09:18.639 --> 00:09:26.080 And uh growing up loving Spielberg and Amblin movies that always had this opening death. 00:09:26.159 --> 00:09:28.320 I specifically Jurassic Park as a reference. 00:09:28.480 --> 00:09:36.799 I basically put in a request to my producers that as asking if I could write an opening death scene to just kind of give that sense of genre right up front. 00:09:37.039 --> 00:09:49.759 We've kind of explored a bit like when when we're developing ideas of aliens and stuff, the the idea of you know, there's like seismic testing and all of these things that go on that you know can impact the environment and that sort of thing. 00:09:49.919 --> 00:09:51.759 But he's clearly an outsider. 00:09:52.159 --> 00:09:54.240 How did you become interested in film? 00:09:54.720 --> 00:09:57.919 I've always loved movies ever since I was a kid. 00:09:58.080 --> 00:10:02.320 I was uh I think almost too young to be watching hitchcraft movies. 00:10:02.480 --> 00:10:20.320 My mom was a big horror fan, and I remember at one of my first sleepovers when I was eight years old, she had us watch the movie The Birds, which is great, but it's it's actually a really scary movie, but it was also so exciting to watch because I think me and my friend, we couldn't believe that we were almost able to watch this. 00:10:20.720 --> 00:10:23.440 Do you get scared watching horror movies? 00:10:23.679 --> 00:10:26.320 Or is it more about the like triumph over that? 00:10:26.639 --> 00:10:28.799 No, I love getting scared. 00:10:28.960 --> 00:10:32.559 I get scared by scary movies, I think, probably more than most people. 00:10:32.960 --> 00:10:37.759 And I love like when the the weather's strange outside and it's a bit spooky. 00:10:37.919 --> 00:10:41.440 I just like I kind of like looking for mystery, I guess. 00:10:41.759 --> 00:10:47.679 And so I can even just like freak myself out when I when I just like going for a walk or something. 00:10:48.960 --> 00:10:53.120 Definitely makes things more interesting, like dramatic. 00:11:09.840 --> 00:11:16.159 When I was younger, I think I really did like the movies because they were fun and exciting. 00:11:16.559 --> 00:11:34.960 And now that I'm older and actually making movies, working on these scripts and exploring the themes that you can dig into with genre in a way that you can't with drama, or you get to just play with metaphor in a way that can be really creative. 00:11:35.200 --> 00:11:51.600 And even I'll re-watch a movie like The Birds, which I, when I was eight years old, the scenes that really stuck in my head, of course, are like the

mother coming across the the neighbor who's either poked out, or the the school children having to like race home and get chased by birds. 00:11:51.759 --> 00:12:13.600 But now that I'm watching it back and like seeing these other storylines about gender roles and the controlling mother and family dynamics and and the roles that they play, it's so interesting to be able to kind of see these other levels within the movie and relate to them on a totally different level than I would have ever been able to when I was a kid. 00:12:14.000 --> 00:12:18.240 You mentioned that your your parents were involved in theater maybe. 00:12:18.480 --> 00:12:20.240 And then was this suma? 00:12:20.480 --> 00:12:23.279 Was were you aware of the moment? 00:12:23.840 --> 00:12:31.120 Astro played a big role in that and and showed people that audiences were interested in international cinema and indigenous cinema. 00:12:31.440 --> 00:12:38.960 But it's not like in Canada we all of a sudden started seeing a bunch of$10 million movies getting made by indigenous people. 00:12:39.200 --> 00:12:49.840 It really wasn't, I don't think, until summer of 2020 when things really had this big shift on the on a global scale when everybody started talking about uh acknowledging race. 00:12:50.000 --> 00:12:58.559 And I know the indigenous execs at Paramount and Netflix and Amazon, but we don't have those in Canada. 00:12:58.720 --> 00:13:05.919 It's it's really interesting that in in the states, with this shift, it has really started a shift in the conversation. 00:13:06.159 --> 00:13:10.480 You are seeing, like with reservation dogs, that was Sterling's show. 00:13:10.720 --> 00:13:23.279 That was when I was pitching series a couple of years ago, everyone was saying, okay, if you're indigenous, you've got to show you to find a co-showrunner who is experienced to be your partner on it. 00:13:23.440 --> 00:13:24.879 And that was just the rule. 00:13:25.039 --> 00:13:36.480 And then Sterling came out with a high-budget show on FX, reservation dogs, with all Indigenous writers, all Indigenous directors, and he was the showrunner. 00:13:36.639 --> 00:13:46.480 And he had Tyka as support, who's indigenous, and that was how he this show, this totally unprecedented show, was able to get made. 00:13:46.720 --> 00:13:51.360 And and all of a sudden now we can point to that and see, see, we can do it. 00:13:51.600 --> 00:13:57.279 And because of that, people have switched, and now it's it isn't the same kind of thing anymore. 00:13:57.440 --> 00:14:14.240 And I think what's been great about the indigenous community in Canada and and us working together through institutions like the Imaginated Film Festival and the Aboriginal People's Television Network, we've been working and making our own staff on tiny budgets for a long time. 00:14:14.559 --> 00:14:39.759 And we're we basically are ready to take on this moment and this now that we're finally being given access to funds and our projects are

being supported on in the same way that non-Indigenous projects are supported, or Indigenous projects by non-Indigenous people were supported, we're really starting to grow as an industry. 00:14:40.480 --> 00:14:46.879 When I was younger, I really just loved scary movies for the fun and the thrill. 00:14:47.120 --> 00:14:55.200 And when you're a young person, a teenager, and you're trying to figure out who you are and how you fit in. 00:14:55.440 --> 00:15:10.240 I just like I loved reading, I loved watching movies and and writing, and it was, I think for me, I started to build a bit of my identity around movies and scary movies in particular. 00:15:10.399 --> 00:15:17.600 For myself, I'm mixed race, I'm half an half white, and all of that kind of got tied up in trying to figure out who I was. 00:15:17.759 --> 00:15:23.039 And I liked school, I I did well in school, so I kind of put a lot of pressure on myself. 00:15:23.120 --> 00:15:31.919 And I think as an as a young indigenous person, there's this idea that if you're doing well, then you're some you're a role model to other young people. 00:15:32.320 --> 00:15:41.679 And that's something that I really try and discourage when I'm talking with my my teenagers, the the kids I work with, because I think that does put a lot of pressure on someone. 00:15:41.840 --> 00:15:48.159 And and for me, when I knew I loved movies, but I thought maybe I should be doing something more important. 00:15:48.320 --> 00:16:05.360 And then when I started making movies, and it was like I liked horror and and sci-fi, and I kind of felt like maybe I should be doing something like more activism work or documentary or heavy dramas that told stories that needed to be told. 00:16:05.679 --> 00:16:20.240 But I think really it's been great actually working with someone like Alethea Arnold Burrell, my producer on Slashback, who herself, she is one of the people I look up to as filmmakers from my community that are really making an impact. 00:16:20.480 --> 00:16:27.360 And her work really did focus on activism and Indigenous empowerment. 00:16:27.600 --> 00:16:39.759 And having spent time now with Alethea working together, I think we both like are able to kind of understand that the work we're doing is in part for ourselves. 00:16:40.000 --> 00:16:46.159 And if we're doing things that are helping us feel empowered, then that can help our communities as well. 00:16:46.399 --> 00:16:58.159 And she's really helped me feel like uh stories that are fun and silly, that those are just as important to have as stories of trauma or survival and struggle. 00:16:58.320 --> 00:17:07.839 And I think it is important to have because, you know, for me, I I think that it's so special this place that we're from. 00:17:07.920 --> 00:17:19.519 And when I was a kid growing up loving movies like The Goonies and E.T., I could relate to those kids, even though they were, you know, white kids from Southern California. 00:17:19.759 --> 00:17:27.440 I was

like, we were having adventures with our friends out on the land, and and it had that same kind of feeling. 00:17:27.599 --> 00:17:40.720 When I was having the opportunity to make my first feature, I really loved the idea of being able to make something that was something that I would have watched when I was a kid, but also reflective of this place I knew. 00:17:41.039 --> 00:17:48.480 People sometimes want to ask me, oh, is it because you were Inuit that you come from a culture that has these mythologies that you're curious about this stuff? 00:17:48.720 --> 00:17:57.519 I don't necessarily think it was this kind of linear thing, because there's also things about mythology and stuff that I've really discovered afterwards. 00:17:57.680 --> 00:18:14.240 And traditional stories within Inuit culture often followed a kind of a similar format as Hitchcock's movies of someone who makes a mistake and then has to pay the consequences for that mistake. 00:18:14.319 --> 00:18:16.480 It's a cautionary tale essentially. 00:18:16.799 --> 00:18:28.640 When I hear about different stories of Inuit mythology and these cautionary tales, I think it's so interesting that they do kind of follow these similar kind of story patterns. 00:18:52.000 --> 00:18:58.559 The guy asks if they're allowed to take the boat, and then he ends up sort of getting for it. 00:18:58.799 --> 00:19:10.640 Which is maybe I want I'm just sort of realizing that maybe that's a difference between Hollywood storytelling a little bit, is that it's more an emphasis on like if I do something wrong, something bad happens to me. 00:19:11.200 --> 00:19:20.160 And what I've heard of some Inuit stories and things, it seems like it's just as important if there are consequences to your community or to people that you love. 00:19:20.640 --> 00:19:20.960 Yeah. 00:19:21.119 --> 00:19:36.799 And I think that that's and I mean I think that that directly relates to these issues of screen sovereignty because we as filmmakers, we recognize that in Indigenous filmmakers, that we are representing our communities in a way. 00:19:37.039 --> 00:19:42.000 And yeah, that doesn't seem fair in some respects, but it is something that we're doing. 00:19:42.480 --> 00:19:49.680 So for me, I don't need like a big fancy move, like a Hollywood movie or a TV series. 00:19:50.160 --> 00:19:52.160 Like I don't need those things. 00:19:52.400 --> 00:19:54.079 I need my community. 00:19:54.880 --> 00:20:02.559 I I so I might want to do to make a movie, but if it's gonna be made in a way that will hurt my community, then it's not worth it to me. 00:20:02.720 --> 00:20:04.799 And I think that's at the crux of it. 00:20:04.880 --> 00:20:08.000 It's like, you know, I come back here. 00:20:08.240 --> 00:20:10.480 This is where my community is. 00:20:10.720 --> 00:20:15.519 Of course, I I never I don't think I could ever represent all Enumid. 00:20:15.680 --> 00:20:22.640 I can only really represent myself, but how can I be making sure that you know I am benefiting from my indigenity? 00:20:22.799 --> 00:20:24.160 How do you give back? 00:20:24.319 --> 00:20:29.759 But then even more than that, movies for me are also a way just to process things. 00:20:30.000 --> 00:20:45.359 And I've I've been in positions where with film and TV and video games and new technologies, there can be this, it's very a fast-paced environment, and I just definitely am someone that puts a lot of pressure on myself. 00:20:45.519 --> 00:20:54.160 And you know, you can get into this habit of feeling like you know, that you're almost like proud of how hard you're working or how little you're sleeping. 00:20:54.400 --> 00:21:14.480 And for me, I was I was really grateful when I when I got sick, I got very sick in a couple years before I made slashback, and it was just this kind of reminder that oh, all of those things that you're kind of racing towards, or these things that seem so important, that that actually is not important at all. 00:21:14.799 --> 00:21:18.559 And just and then it was like, oh yeah, what what is important? 00:21:19.119 --> 00:21:38.240 And for me, making slashback, this movie about teenage girls and specifically processing shame and their indigeneity, and deciding that you know that their community was something that was worth fighting for, that they were uniquely capable to take that on. 00:21:38.400 --> 00:21:49.039 It was a very emotional process, and then it continued into work with these young actors and these teenagers using shameful language in their everyday. 00:21:49.279 --> 00:21:54.079 And that was we put that in the script for a reason because that's how they spoke. 00:21:54.240 --> 00:21:59.519 Their shame would come through in the way they they would say, Oh, that's so ghetto. 00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:01.599 And then I'd be, what do you mean by that? 00:22:01.759 --> 00:22:02.880 Well, that's so inuk. 00:22:03.359 --> 00:22:04.720 What do you mean by that? 00:22:05.039 --> 00:22:11.200 And it was just like they would use Inuk as like interchangeable with anything that was negative. 00:22:11.599 --> 00:22:29.759 And then it was it really important in before we we got to filming that we be talking about that this language existed, that we should be working to not be using that kind of language, and that when we're talking about our indigenity, that we're only using prideful words. 00:22:30.079 --> 00:22:35.599 Because if we're not there yet, then that's what we're hoping to get towards is being proud indigenous women. 00:22:35.839 --> 00:22:50.559 And I think for all of us in the in the process of making this movie, and even just having, you know, this this story about indigenous girls and people coming and supporting it and saying, Oh yeah, this is something that's worthy of being told, and then having all the crew up there. 00:22:50.720 --> 00:22:56.559 I think that for all of us it really was just a very important time of growth. 00:22:56.880 --> 00:23:08.559 It's been so

great, and and we continue to stay connected and work together because, well, we've hit for for me, we've invested in these kids and and they've invested in me. 00:23:08.720 --> 00:23:12.000 And it's so exciting to see now what they can be. 00:23:12.160 --> 00:23:22.640 They're all just leaders, even if they they never want to act again, even just working together to share the movie and talk about our experience, I think, is really valuable. 00:23:23.440 --> 00:23:32.720 I love the yeah, focus on process and on just yeah, giving people the opportunity to actually do these things is really it's just it. 00:23:33.119 --> 00:23:35.279 Yeah, and that focus on process. 00:23:35.440 --> 00:23:43.759 I mean, that's what's so great about the Pathways and Protocols document, is it really talks about the importance of capacity building within this work. 00:23:43.920 --> 00:23:48.559 When we're making these movies within our communities, these are multi-million dollar projects. 00:23:48.799 --> 00:23:53.680 They can serve as more than just as work or as uh this product at the end. 00:23:53.759 --> 00:23:59.119 It's even in the process of making them, we can be empowering our communities and building capacity. 00:23:59.200 --> 00:24:03.279 And with Slashback, that was really kind of my first attempt. 00:24:03.440 --> 00:24:23.519 I really am wanting to just continue to see how we can be producers and directors and creators, continue to make stuff in Nunavut and the film and TV scene begins to grow, then then we're able to get to the point where we can be hiring crews full of indigenous people. 00:24:23.680 --> 00:24:31.519 And it really is about finding those opportunities within the work to be doing paid training and mentorship. 00:24:31.839 --> 00:24:36.079 And that's obviously difficult because movies are already expensive. 00:24:36.160 --> 00:24:44.480 And so when you're saying that, you know, in order to do it properly, it will take time and money, those are the two things that we basically don't have enough of on set. 00:24:44.640 --> 00:24:49.039 So there's Canada the Indigenous Screen Office and also the Black Screen Office. 00:24:49.200 --> 00:24:56.400 And the ISO was created first, the Black Screen Office was is was modeled after, and it will have a similar kind of funding model. 00:24:56.720 --> 00:25:01.039 They'll also fund community capacity building initiatives. 00:25:01.200 --> 00:25:11.920 So you could apply for a movie and get$400,000 that's just dedicated to training and mentoring crew that will be working alongside production. 00:25:12.079 --> 00:25:13.039 I mean, it takes time. 00:25:13.519 --> 00:25:19.680 In the next 10 years, it will really make such a huge difference on our ability to tell stories. 00:25:19.920 --> 00:25:31.920 And as we have more producers and more creators then able to access it, it just is, I think it's a really exciting time for Indigenous screen communities. 00:25:32.160 --> 00:25:33.279 We did it, you know. 00:25:33.440 --> 00:25:45.279 We somehow made this crazy ambitious movie on an indie-Canadian budget and with a first-time director and actors who hadn't acted before. 00:25:45.519 --> 00:25:52.960 And so now I've as I'm preparing to make a second movie or or next projects, and it can kind of sometimes feel overwhelming. 00:25:53.119 --> 00:26:01.519 I just have to remind myself, like, I'm in a much better position now than I was when I tried to make that first thing, you know, that it's just trying to get better. 00:26:01.759 --> 00:26:11.359 How can we, as we're engaging in the work, as we're producing the work, be trying to do it in a way that almost can feel healing instead of something that's going to tear us apart? 00:26:11.839 --> 00:26:15.440 Because it is such hard work and so stressful. 00:26:15.759 --> 00:26:18.079 And I expect that to be the case. 00:26:18.240 --> 00:26:23.359 I mean, these are high, this is high-intensity environments, and uh that's also part of why I like it. 00:26:23.599 --> 00:26:27.200 They say directing movies is like the white water rafting. 00:26:28.160 --> 00:26:42.319 But it's how can I be just more that just mindful of the fact that this is emotional work too, especially when it's personal, that it can take a toll, and how can we be planning to make it in a way that's potentially less damaging. 00:26:42.559 --> 00:26:54.319 And I think working with with these kids has been a really helpful process to to kind of clarify how how we best do that because obviously I care a lot about them. 00:26:54.480 --> 00:27:07.200 It's so important for me to have this be a great experience for them, a learning opportunity, maybe an opportunity to open doors in the future, and how do we support them in that process. 00:27:07.440 --> 00:27:16.000 And so just being like protective of the kids and their mental health and well-being has also just been good for me to remember. 00:27:16.319 --> 00:27:16.799 Absolutely. 00:27:16.880 --> 00:27:19.839 And there's no way not to bring like your whole self to it. 00:27:20.000 --> 00:27:30.000 I mean, it's so physically demanding, and then like these actors are being asked to sort of like plumb some of well, all of you, like these emotional things and things like that. 00:27:30.160 --> 00:27:34.880 That's really inspiring, and I think the film industry at large could definitely learn from that. 00:27:35.599 --> 00:27:45.200 We're really starting to grow as a as an industry, and it's gonna take a minute, and for me, it's been an uncomfortable process. 00:27:45.440 --> 00:27:48.559 I just had never even been on a set like a movie like that with a real budget. 00:27:48.799 --> 00:27:55.200 We've been on sets, but not ones with 60 crew members, and all of a sudden I was on one and I was leading it. 00:27:55.440 --> 00:28:03.759 And so it was every day just being like jumping into ice water and being seeing if I could swim, and then you kind of come out of the end, you're like, holy shit, I

did it. 00:28:03.920 --> 00:28:05.519 Now do again tomorrow. 00:28:05.759 --> 00:28:10.480 And it's it's so intense, but now I know how to prepare. 00:28:10.640 --> 00:28:15.759 The second project, I'm sure, will be terrifying again, and then but I'm hoping that each time I'm learning things. 00:28:16.000 --> 00:28:17.519 How can I be preparing myself? 00:28:17.599 --> 00:28:29.039 And then, you know, if I'm working with more emerging artists in the future or mentorship, how can I be supporting them so maybe they aren't feeling quite the same way that I was? 00:28:29.279 --> 00:28:36.799 But I also I also think that that's the best way to learn is is to be uncomfortable and then have to have to grow. 00:28:37.039 --> 00:28:43.200 As an audience, it's really exciting, it seems like people are just being given more room to tell the stories they want to tell. 00:28:43.440 --> 00:28:47.279 So the end of the film it says slash back, and then it says land back. 00:28:47.519 --> 00:28:47.759 Yeah. 00:28:47.920 --> 00:28:53.279 And I wondered if you could just say a little bit about like what the land back movement means to you. 00:28:53.599 --> 00:28:54.079 Sure. 00:28:54.319 --> 00:29:10.240 I mean, I think for me, it just is an acknowledgement that this is indigenous territory, indigenous land, indigenous people live here, and that some pretty terrible things have happened to indigenous people with through colonization. 00:29:10.480 --> 00:29:14.079 The impact of colonization is can't be ignored here. 00:29:14.160 --> 00:29:24.799 There is the the impact of the residential school system, it is this disruption among many generations of innovation, and it's it its effects are still very much felt. 00:29:25.039 --> 00:29:44.960 My father was taken away from his family when he was a child and made to feel shame in his language, and his his culture was was beaten for speaking in aptitude or telling stories, and these kids that I'm working with, these are their grandparents, their aunts and uncles that have gone to these schools. 00:29:45.279 --> 00:30:01.039 And so this shame or this idea that whiteness is something to strive for, or that the base standard and that indigenity is somehow less than is just kind of built into everyday life. 00:30:01.279 --> 00:30:04.240 And the colonization of the Arctic happened so recently. 00:30:04.400 --> 00:30:10.480 It's only a few generations ago that we are living nomadically enigmu, and by that I mean my grandparents. 00:30:10.720 --> 00:30:24.960 And so that was just something that, you know, I I felt like it was just a kind of a little acknowledgement of this larger movement that this is this is a fight in a way. 00:30:25.279 --> 00:30:34.240 But I think it's really important for everyone to be in charge of their own lives, for people to feel like they have control over their lives, families to feel like they have control over their lives. 00:30:34.640 --> 00:30:45.759 It was really great to hear uh Tessana who plays Micah talk about her process of of finding pride in herself and her indigenity in the making of this movie similar to Micah. 00:30:45.920 --> 00:30:54.400 She'd spoken about wanting to maybe be an actor and move somewhere, a city, and try and get work acting. 00:30:54.640 --> 00:31:05.519 I think for her to just have this realization that, oh, I can be doing this kind of work and I don't have to leave my family, I can be doing it here, I can stay in the Arctic. 00:31:05.839 --> 00:31:09.599 It was this really important shift for her, I think. 00:31:09.839 --> 00:31:19.359 And I think that we don't even necessarily realize it when how shame and our you know indigenity can kind of poke through. 00:31:19.599 --> 00:31:26.160 For all of us, we're all dealing with the different levels of shame or different traumas that we're having to figure out. 00:31:26.240 --> 00:31:31.599 And and the great thing about us all doing this process together is that we be helping each other out. 00:31:31.920 --> 00:31:40.559 I met a man actually yesterday who was from Peng originally and living here, and he wondered what you would want the larger world to know about Pang. 00:31:41.680 --> 00:31:48.880 I hope that they see it as a place of beauty, that it's a wonderful place to grow up. 00:31:49.119 --> 00:31:56.799 I think that we're so used to seeing stories of struggle that that's how we're used to seeing our communities represented. 00:31:57.039 --> 00:32:08.480 I worked for a while with an organization called the Glen Gould Foundation, and Glenn Gould is a Canadian pianist, classical musician who has had a fascination with the Arctic, and he really saw it as a place of solitude and isolation. 00:32:08.640 --> 00:32:13.279 And I think maybe that's the way people see the Arctic as a cold and dark place. 00:32:13.519 --> 00:32:16.880 But when you're from here, you see it as a blessed community. 00:32:16.960 --> 00:32:18.160 You actually can't escape it. 00:32:18.240 --> 00:32:22.559 It's like it's and so it's um this place of love. 00:32:22.799 --> 00:32:26.319 And I hope that that's something that comes through.