By Katarina Ziervogel

In the Northern regions of Canada, such as the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, a place where the sun does not set beneath the horizon for twenty-one hours a day during the summertime each year. In wintertime, the sun sets within four hours hence the shortest winter days. It is often a belief among people who have yet to visit the North that it is an extremely cold, deserted place with no green in sight. The prices in the stores appear to be more expensive than regular prices in the south, and there is absolutely nothing to do up in the North which makes all of it sound like a miserable, depressing place to live.

Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory, is a performance artist and an Inuk whose true home lies in the North. Bathory’s desire is to change the majority of Canadian’s cynical perception of the North. In regards to the Inuit community up North, Bathory aims to educate those people about their living situation, culture, and tradition. It’s slightly challenging due to Indigenous communities in the South who are still trying to fight against the negative stigma given to them by mainstream society. However, the Inuit communities are fighting too but they’re not receiving attention as much as they’d like to from the rest of Canada.

Fo reconciliation, it is essential to invite the Inuit communities and residents of the North to the conversation we’re having.

http://www.cbc.ca/radio/outintheopen/hyphen-state-1.4184855/inuk-performance-artist-challenges-southern-canadians-on-their-perceptions-of-the-north-1.4184921