{"id":109145,"date":"2026-09-29T08:17:26","date_gmt":"2026-09-29T12:17:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=109145"},"modified":"2026-09-29T08:17:26","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T12:17:26","slug":"how-north-of-north-turned-inuit-joy-into-its-own-kind-of-canadian-tv-revolution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/29\/how-north-of-north-turned-inuit-joy-into-its-own-kind-of-canadian-tv-revolution\/","title":{"rendered":"How ‘North of North’ turned Inuit joy into its own kind of Canadian TV revolution"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Alex Nino Gheciu It was supposed to be a table read for the Season 2 finale of \u201cNorth of North.\u201d But it turned into one big group cry. Inuk actress Zorga Qaunaq, who plays Millie on the hit Iqaluit-shot sitcom, began tearing up at the end of the script. \u201cShe just started crying and being like, \u2018It\u2019s so nice to have something nice. We deserve nice things,\u2019\u201d recalled co-creator Alethea Arnaquq-Baril. Soon, the waterworks were flowing around the room. For Arnaquq-Baril and co-creator Stacey Aglok MacDonald, the moment crystallized what they\u2019d been hearing from their community since the dramedy debuted last year: that \u201cNorth of North\u201d was giving audiences something they didn\u2019t often see on television \u2014 stories that let Inuit characters be messy, fall in love, struggle, and… <\/p>\n

\n
\n
This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription – Corporate, Print Subscription Only, Canada Print and Online, and USA Print and Online members only.
Register<\/a><\/div>\n
Already a member? Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Alex Nino Gheciu It was supposed to be a table read for the Season 2 finale of \u201cNorth of North.\u201d But it turned into one big group cry. Inuk actress Zorga Qaunaq, who plays Millie on the hit Iqaluit-shot sitcom, began tearing up at the end of the script. \u201cShe just started crying and being like, \u2018It\u2019s so nice to have something nice. We deserve nice things,\u2019\u201d recalled co-creator Alethea Arnaquq-Baril. Soon, the waterworks were flowing around the room. For Arnaquq-Baril and co-creator Stacey Aglok MacDonald, the moment crystallized what they\u2019d been hearing from their community since the dramedy debuted last year: that \u201cNorth of North\u201d was giving audiences something they didn\u2019t often see on television \u2014 stories that let Inuit characters be messy, fall in love, struggle, and... <\/p>\n

This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, Canada Print and Online, and USA Print and Online members only.
Register<\/a><\/div>
Already a member? Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-109145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-level-8","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"\nHow 'North of North' turned Inuit joy into its own kind of Canadian TV revolution - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/29\/how-north-of-north-turned-inuit-joy-into-its-own-kind-of-canadian-tv-revolution\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How 'North of North' turned Inuit joy into its own kind of Canadian TV revolution - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Alex Nino Gheciu It was supposed to be a table read for the Season 2 finale of \u201cNorth of North.\u201d But it turned into one big group cry. Inuk actress Zorga Qaunaq, who plays Millie on the hit Iqaluit-shot sitcom, began tearing up at the end of the script. \u201cShe just started crying and being like, \u2018It\u2019s so nice to have something nice. We deserve nice things,\u2019\u201d recalled co-creator Alethea Arnaquq-Baril. Soon, the waterworks were flowing around the room. For Arnaquq-Baril and co-creator Stacey Aglok MacDonald, the moment crystallized what they\u2019d been hearing from their community since the dramedy debuted last year: that \u201cNorth of North\u201d was giving audiences something they didn\u2019t often see on television \u2014 stories that let Inuit characters be messy, fall in love, struggle, and\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/29\/how-north-of-north-turned-inuit-joy-into-its-own-kind-of-canadian-tv-revolution\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-09-29T12:17:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"725\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/29\\\/how-north-of-north-turned-inuit-joy-into-its-own-kind-of-canadian-tv-revolution\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/29\\\/how-north-of-north-turned-inuit-joy-into-its-own-kind-of-canadian-tv-revolution\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"How ‘North of North’ turned Inuit joy into its own kind of Canadian TV revolution\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-29T12:17:26+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/29\\\/how-north-of-north-turned-inuit-joy-into-its-own-kind-of-canadian-tv-revolution\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1000,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"National News\",\"ticker\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/29\\\/how-north-of-north-turned-inuit-joy-into-its-own-kind-of-canadian-tv-revolution\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/29\\\/how-north-of-north-turned-inuit-joy-into-its-own-kind-of-canadian-tv-revolution\\\/\",\"name\":\"How 'North of North' turned Inuit joy into its own kind of Canadian TV revolution - The Turtle Island News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-29T12:17:26+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/29\\\/how-north-of-north-turned-inuit-joy-into-its-own-kind-of-canadian-tv-revolution\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/29\\\/how-north-of-north-turned-inuit-joy-into-its-own-kind-of-canadian-tv-revolution\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/29\\\/how-north-of-north-turned-inuit-joy-into-its-own-kind-of-canadian-tv-revolution\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How ‘North of North’ turned Inuit joy into its own kind of Canadian TV revolution\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Turtle Island News\",\"description\":\"Your Source for Local News\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Turtle Island News\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/turtle150.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/turtle150.jpg\",\"width\":140,\"height\":150,\"caption\":\"Turtle Island News\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/TurtleIslandNews\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/newsattheturtle\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/channel\\\/UCOqB-hG3L6hRLsmqY0e5k0g\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\",\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Lynda Powless\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/lynda\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How 'North of North' turned Inuit joy into its own kind of Canadian TV revolution - The Turtle Island News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/29\/how-north-of-north-turned-inuit-joy-into-its-own-kind-of-canadian-tv-revolution\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How 'North of North' turned Inuit joy into its own kind of Canadian TV revolution - The Turtle Island News","og_description":"By Alex Nino Gheciu It was supposed to be a table read for the Season 2 finale of \u201cNorth of North.\u201d But it turned into one big group cry. Inuk actress Zorga Qaunaq, who plays Millie on the hit Iqaluit-shot sitcom, began tearing up at the end of the script. \u201cShe just started crying and being like, \u2018It\u2019s so nice to have something nice. We deserve nice things,\u2019\u201d recalled co-creator Alethea Arnaquq-Baril. Soon, the waterworks were flowing around the room. For Arnaquq-Baril and co-creator Stacey Aglok MacDonald, the moment crystallized what they\u2019d been hearing from their community since the dramedy debuted last year: that \u201cNorth of North\u201d was giving audiences something they didn\u2019t often see on television \u2014 stories that let Inuit characters be messy, fall in love, struggle, and","og_url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/29\/how-north-of-north-turned-inuit-joy-into-its-own-kind-of-canadian-tv-revolution\/","og_site_name":"The Turtle Island News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/","article_published_time":"2026-09-29T12:17:26+00:00","og_image":[{"width":725,"height":483,"url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Lynda Powless","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@newsattheturtle","twitter_site":"@newsattheturtle","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lynda Powless","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/29\/how-north-of-north-turned-inuit-joy-into-its-own-kind-of-canadian-tv-revolution\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/29\/how-north-of-north-turned-inuit-joy-into-its-own-kind-of-canadian-tv-revolution\/"},"author":{"name":"Lynda Powless","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458"},"headline":"How ‘North of North’ turned Inuit joy into its own kind of Canadian TV revolution","datePublished":"2026-09-29T12:17:26+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/29\/how-north-of-north-turned-inuit-joy-into-its-own-kind-of-canadian-tv-revolution\/"},"wordCount":1000,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#organization"},"articleSection":["National News","ticker"],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/29\/how-north-of-north-turned-inuit-joy-into-its-own-kind-of-canadian-tv-revolution\/","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/29\/how-north-of-north-turned-inuit-joy-into-its-own-kind-of-canadian-tv-revolution\/","name":"How 'North of North' turned Inuit joy into its own kind of Canadian TV revolution - The Turtle Island News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-09-29T12:17:26+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/29\/how-north-of-north-turned-inuit-joy-into-its-own-kind-of-canadian-tv-revolution\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-CA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/29\/how-north-of-north-turned-inuit-joy-into-its-own-kind-of-canadian-tv-revolution\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/29\/how-north-of-north-turned-inuit-joy-into-its-own-kind-of-canadian-tv-revolution\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How ‘North of North’ turned Inuit joy into its own kind of Canadian TV revolution"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/","name":"The Turtle Island News","description":"Your Source for Local News","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#organization","name":"Turtle Island News","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/turtle150.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/turtle150.jpg","width":140,"height":150,"caption":"Turtle Island News"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/","https:\/\/x.com\/newsattheturtle","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCOqB-hG3L6hRLsmqY0e5k0g"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458","name":"Lynda Powless","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Lynda Powless"},"url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/author\/lynda\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/101363"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109145"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109145\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":109146,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109145\/revisions\/109146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}