“There’s so much to learn from the land,” says Isabelle Chapadeau, who lives in Pangnirtung, Nunavut. Her mom’s side of the family are from Nunavut and her dad’s side of the family are from Quebec where she also grew up until 2017 when she moved to Iqaluit. Because she didn’t really grow up in Inuit culture, learning about it is one of her hobbies. She is learning to sew parkas and to cook meat she hasn’t tried before. She’s also learning to hunt and fish. she says. She’s learning new skills and while she’s hard on herself, she’s learned a lot in the two years since she’s moved to her community. 

She’s fortunate to have mentors around her with talent and knowledge to share with her and so many friendly, welcoming people where she lives. There are many artists who are eager to share their skills with newcomers. Youth and elders alike are helping her learn more about Inuit culture. 

When it comes to her professional life, Chapadeau is a student support assistant at the high school. She loves working with youth. She finds the work energizing. She also does work online including social justice discussions with Indigenous and non-Indigenous people alike. Working with youth, she always has their perspective in mind. She is considering becoming a teacher one day.

In her free time, Chapadeau makes earrings for fun. As a mom of two, she doesn’t have much time to herself but when they go to bed she spends time making her art for the Christmas sale they have locally. She tries not to push herself too much because she doesn’t want it to become too much like work and not enjoyable anymore. She enjoys learning new skills and being creative, so she doesn’t just make earrings. Sometimes she makes wall hangings or digital art. She teaches beading to the youth while learning to work with seal skin.  

At one point, Chapadeau moved to Ottawa to attend Nunavut Sivuniksavut, a school where Inuit learn about their culture and history. Her advice to Indigenous youth moving away to pursue their education is “you should go if you want to, even if it's scary”. Her experience moving away was positive because she met many wonderful people with whom she’s still in contact. She also learned a lot from them. 

She advises to find your community, people like you, but also open yourself up to other cultures. She found she’s a lot less shy after moving away. Finding a safe place to live is something she recommends and to live near people who can help. Coming back is something that can be hard from a housing perspective but she feels it’s not something that should prevent someone from seeing the world and learning from others. 

When it comes to obstacles, Chapadeau has struggled with housing and food security like many Northerners. She also has a hard time accessing art supplies but she orders online or has people send things to her by plane. She’s worked hard to build connections so that if she feels unsafe somewhere she can move. When the weather is foggy, it can be hard for flights with food to land and they have had to learn to be patient. Things like postal strikes can have a big impact on their community and they just have to wait. 

Thinking of her mental health, Chapadeau is emotional and sensitive. She absorbs other people’s feelings so she has to get out of the house if she’s been home for more than a couple days even if it’s just for a walk. Going on the land helps her reset herself. Going boating or fishing makes a big difference for her wellness. Talking to her close friends helps, too. The dark of winter can be challenging but there are a lot of activities in her community which can be good for her mental health in trying times. In her community, there’s a lot of mutual support and she doesn’t feel judgement which is a good thing when she’s going through a lot. 

As far as inspiration goes, Chapadeau looks to people in her local community. She sees so many people who work to support Inuit in their daily life, from those working in the hamlet office, to those working in the Inuktitut language, to those delivering the news at CBC, to people working in Inuit businesses and people working on the radio.  “I cannot even name just one, because they are part of my life, and I see the effort they're putting every day to just wake up and go to their work that really changes a lot the community,” she beams.  

In closing, Chapadeau urges youth to involve themselves, being in conversation with others and travelling. She also encourages youth to go out on the land. “It's so important to balance things online, it can be really a little bubble if you're only online. I'm a lot online, on social media, but I tend to make a schedule for myself, forcing myself to not be too much online, and balancing it by going out and making friends.”

With so much to learn from the land and her fellow community members, Isabelle Chapadeau is immersing herself in Inuit culture and sharing what she knows in exchange. Inspired by her community, she finds support and encouragement during challenging times and has learned to overcome barriers that come with Northern living. Working as a student support assistant, she’s looking ahead to a possible future as a teacher and raising her children in a culture she didn’t have the opportunity to grow up in.

Thanks to Alison Tedford Seaweed for authoring this article.