“I just follow my passions and fill gaps that I see,” says Sandi Vincent, an Inuk facilitator, throat singer, drum dancer, playwright, seamstress and storyteller. A federal public servant by day, her life is multifaceted. She loves to share Inuit culture globally through her performances and original productions.

When it comes to her upbringing, Vincent describes Igloolik as her hometown and talks about growing up all over the place. She spent a decade in Rankin Inlet as well as a lot of time in Yellowknife. These days she’s based in Iqaluit, Nunavut.

Vincent first got an up close look at drum dancing and throat singing at fashion shows. She started learning from there, receiving critiques and meeting people to throat sing with. She and her friends would host Throat Singing Thursdays, have snacks and practice together. “I think if you're interested, and it's fun to you, then you'll do well, because you'll keep at it,” she observes.

She is committed to Inuit language, culture and community development, helping out with her time and wisdom. A board member of Ilitaqsiniq, Vincent is passionate about education, Inuit arts, and storytelling. She first started sewing as a child, continuing through high school, learning from amazing women in her life. She was sewing for her family, learning new patterns and techniques. She also learned other practices from processing skins to knitting to making wall hangings.

During the pandemic, Vincent got into traditional tattooing, reading more about it and about Nuliajuk, goddess of the sea. She got an opportunity to write a play about Nuliajuk and the best advice she received was “all a first draft has to do is exist… start anywhere, and that’s the place to start.” She went on to find actors to play the characters. After a year of rehearsals, they opened in Greenland. She also went to Greenland for a drumming festival in 2023. Now, she has two more projects in mind and a collaboration with the Executive Director of the National School of Theater of Greenland.

In pursuing her learning, Vincent completed a fur program, two years of management studies, and a master Certificate in Project Management through York University. She’s taken some on the land courses for Indigenous self governance and a one year Inuktitut language program. She also completed Nunavut Sivuniksavut, a program for Inuit students to learn about Inuit cultural knowledge and more. In one program she completed, she spent four months sewing with elders.

For the past five years, Vincent’s been with Parks Canada after being with a different federal agency. Before working with the government she was a stay at home mom for six years. She almost became an accountant at one point before realizing she was good with spreadsheets but she didn’t enjoy the work.

One of her very first adventures was spending a year volunteering in Ghana after high school through Canada World Youth, an opportunity Vincent learned about when she was living in Iqaluit to complete grades 11 and 12. She celebrated her 18th birthday on the beach in Africa, lived with an amazing host family and checked out the world’s biggest outdoor markets.

Her advice for Indigenous students considering leaving their hometowns for education is a lighthearted “Do it for the plot!” Thinking back on her own experience, whether it was hard, scary, or exciting, she wanted the next experience and she recommends following that path.

As far as struggles went, finding childcare was the biggest challenge she faced, just like her friends. This shared struggle led them to establish Ivvavik daycare, a service prioritizing parents in post secondary. If she could give her younger self advice, it would be to stop and enjoy life a little more.

To balance her mental health and well-being, Vincent monitors her energy and productivity to know when she needs to take care of herself better. She loves spending time in and near water, whether in the bath or watching waterfalls. She has a counsellor to help her process things and she does breath and bodywork to help her stay present.

Following her passions and filling the gaps she sees, Sandi Vincent has built a fulfilling artistic practice and a career where she gets to share her culture. Her taste for adventure has taken her from Ghana to Greenland and taught her so much in between. As a playwright, seamstress, throatsinger, drum dancer, storyteller and more, she’s followed her dreams and found partnerships and community along the way.

Thanks to Alison Tedford Seaweed for authoring this article.