How Clothing Conveys Culture
The Inuit comedy North of North shows its culture instead of explaining it.
Created by Inuk filmmakers Stacey Aglok MacDonald and Meritorious Service Cross recipient Alethea Arnaquq-Baril, North of North (2025) is a comedy television show that follows a young Inuit woman, Siaja (played by Anna Lambe), in the fictional town of Ice Cove, Nunavut. As a self-named “modern Inuk woman,” Siaja tries to take her life back and become her own person, breaking free from her old life. Over the course of eight episodes, Siaja meets new people, finds a purpose in her life, and reconciles long-standing personal relationship issues, going out for an adventure alongside us, her viewers.
Throughout the show, there is no direct mention of traditional cultural practices and the characters engage in activities that people in urban cities also engage in — weekly town-wide baseball games (with a twist), community events, parties and celebrations — things that you would expect from a small, tight-knit community such as Ice Cove, Nunavut. By using traditional clothing and jewellery, North of North is able to fully immerse the viewer in Indigenous culture without outright saying it, making the show that much more visually interesting and unique.
How someone dresses is an important part of how they choose to present themselves to the world, and this is no exception for a fictional world on television. Throughout the show, most of the characters dress in traditional parkas, tattoos, earrings, and boots, which, even to someone who hasn’t been around Indigenous culture, are still visibly intricately decorated with care. The lead costume designer, Debra Hanson, said the goal was to “get it right culturally, and for it to be beautiful and modern,” something that the team definitely achieved through the bright colours and real fur pelts.
However, the show excels in this department even past just visuals by sourcing clothing with a story. As Inuk artist and consultant on the series Keenan “Nooks” Lindell stated, “a lot of people still sew a lot of their own clothes.” A large portion of their set clothing and accessories were from independent artists and individuals (ordinary people!), as well as consulting furriers to find the perfect cut of fur for some pieces, including Siaja’s wedding atigi (Inuktitut for parka), made by Victoria Kakuktinniq, that she wears in Episode 6. The clothing worn on set was not only created from scratch, but also altered and slightly redesigned from existing items in ways that are popular in Inuit culture. One of these techniques involves taking modern heavy-weight parkas from brands such as Carhartt and Arctica and fixing fur trimming onto them. The contributions of these artists and people are monumental in the part they played in making this show so much more effective in representing the culture, definitely achieving Hanson’s goal of beauty and modernity, reflecting the mood and overall theme of the show.
Still, North of North remains environmentally conscious, choosing to use sustainable, real fur from ethically sourced animals to create their clothing pieces. Lambe points out that the ethics of real fur versus fake fur, as well as the fact that they are biodegradable, are so important. She goes on to consider the microplastics that “are shedding into our oceans and into our land and are harming our animals.”
The show uses tattoos on certain characters to inform the viewer about certain parts of their character arc as well. For example, an upside-down triangle on the forehead symbolizes womanhood, a tattoo visibly seen on Neevee (Maika Harper), Siaja’s mother. Another example is on Siaja herself, with her fingers being tattooed with rings to symbolize her connection to Nuliajuk (played by Inuk throat singer Tanya Tagaq), as the tattoo directly references the Inuk story of the god Nuliajuk’s fingers.
This show isn’t just a comedy with gorgeous clothes, though! North of North might be a comedy but it also covers some heavier topics like intergenerational trauma, PTSD, and residential schools, each issue being addressed with genuineness in a way that feels open and vulnerable. Each episode involves Siaja directly connecting with and learning from an elder or family, doing so in a way that makes the overall energy of the show light and homey, really encompassing the vibe of the setting (a close-knit community!), and causes the viewer to feel like they belong in Ice Cove, experiencing this new life right alongside Siaja.
North of North truly is an all-rounder. It combines humor with grief, and is lighthearted while touching on sensitive topics, all while rocking incredible, traditionally handmade outfits in a culture-rich setting. Each aspect of the show only serves to amplify the intensity of the other elements and make them stand out more, bringing colour to the snow of Nunavut.