Shina Nova wants to change the perception of Inuit culture and shatter the clichés that surround it. She started off well: 1.3 million people follow her on TikTok, where she shares videos of throat singing that she does with her mother, among other things.
We met the 22-year-old Montreal designer on the banks of the river with her mother Caroline. She was radiant: “I feel like a million dollars, right now!” she told us.
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And there is something! Since she started her TikTok account in full lockdown, last April, the “likes” and the subscribers have accumulated at full speed. As of this writing, she is the first Inuit woman to wear the blue check mark for “verified” accounts on TikTok.
“It was when I ‘posted’ a throat singing video with my mother that we started to receive a lot of attention,” explains the CEGEP student. It’s crazy, because, without the pandemic, I don’t even think I would have downloaded TikTok. ”
Some of his videos have been viewed over eight million times!
Shina Nova isn’t just about throat singing – she wants to educate people about her culture and do activism for women and natives.
On its platform, there are just videos that tackle prejudices surrounding Inuit culture. She uses TikTok to popularize cultural appropriation or to explain little-known aspects of Inuit culture, such as the “Eskimo kiss” cliché.
An album on the way
The craze around throat singing pushed Shina and Caroline to democratize this key element of Inuit culture. A mother-daughter album, the ambition of which is “to safeguard Inuit culture for generations to come”, is being recorded.
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For Christmas, Shina used her platform to raise funds to provide food and gifts to an Indigenous women’s shelter in Montreal.
“We were aiming for a goal of $ 2,500, but we reached $ 12,000 in donations, we did not expect that at all.”
She is determined to use her platform to make a difference.
“I want to continue to involve my family and friends in what I do,” she says.
Prouder than ever
This monster success is turning everything upside down for Shina. She was fondling the idea of being an eyelash technician, but first she had to juggle her newfound popularity.
“I take my time to see things happen. I would especially like to have a business run by native people, whatever it is, ”she says.
Originally from the village of Purvinituq, in Nunavik, where she lived until 5 years old, Shina Nova was not always so proud of her culture, “but everything has changed thanks to TikTok”.
“I was afraid to wear my parka in public, because I felt that some people were staring at me,” she says. Today, I am not trying to fit into the mold. I am proud of my culture and who I am. ”
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