Bringing a new face to the idea of an ‘influencer,’ Shina Nova is an Inuk activist & Tik Tok influencer redefining the culture and paving the way for what it means to be Indigenous on the forefront of social media. The 22-year-old Tik Tok star has cultivated 1.7 million followers, 56 million likes, and 340k followers on Instagram and is raising visibility and fighting for the rights of the Inuit of Canada in her own way.
“I want people to know that [Inuit] culture is still very present and strong. It's not something that was hundreds of years ago — it's something that is still being done right now. We're still practicing our culture.”
Shina’s presence on social media has led to an alarming amount of discriminatory comments and responses. The Tik Tok star rose to prominence early on in her career on the platform by posting videos of her and her mother, Kayuula Nova, performing throat singing.
Throat singing is a musical practice and competitive game that has been passed down through generations of the Inuit. This practice consists of female Inuuk standing face-to-face using their throats to make rhythmic patterns with short bursts of inhalation and exhalation, seeing who can sing the longest before usually breaking into laughter. You can watch this video about Shina and her mother’s throat singing.
Some users on the Tik Tok platform will comment rude things, post full-length videos imitating Shina and her mother, or may even just directly duet Shina’s Tik Tok video and laugh. Quite similarly, the British Monarchy’s Prince Charles and his wife Camilla faced criticism after being blatantly disrespectful, uncontrollable laughing and mocking Inuit throat singers in Iqaluit, the capital of the Nunavut province of Northern Canada in 2017 during a royal visit.
Shina is often asked by those mockering her: “Why can’t we laugh if you’re laughing in your throat singing videos?” She explains, “yes, we laugh every single time. But we are not making fun of our throat songs. That’s the difference.”
Prince Charles and Camilla were rightfully criticized but many still believe that the royal giggling attack in 2017 was all in good fun... but Shina explains that this is not a valid defense for such racist mockery. “We laugh because we have such a great bond,” continues Shina, “and we are having fun throat singing because it’s a game. There is a difference between having fun and mocking.” Posting many Tik Toks about the Inuit lifestyle, including of their diet, specifically on the topic of the consumption of beluga whale and seal; Shina is outspoken on the topic of ethical carnivorous consumption in the Inuit community of Canada, speaking against the flawed criticism of many vegan activists.
For context, the Indigenous people of the Americas have always depended on the earth and its animals for sustenance. The Inuit — as well as the other ethnic groups of the Indigenous diaspora of the continent — were surviving and preserving the integrity of the planet for thousands of years before the brutal colonizers of Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands arrived, industrialized, and created the earth-warming meat industry.
Thus, food-shaming Indigenous people like Shina under the guise of “veganism” is a flawed colonialistic, hypocritical point of view. The Inuit respect and use every single part of the animal for clothes, tools, etc.
You can read more about the ongoing debate on this topic here.
“I want people to see the beauty of [Inuit culture]. We do face issues still today and it's important to talk about it. But it's also important to learn the beauty of our culture, our practices, our food, how rich it is.”
Regardless of mockery or criticism, Shina continues to show that sharing her Inuit culture on a large platform is a net positive for the visibility of Indigenous people. Dealing with constant criticism is what makes Shina Nova such a beacon for activism and education on social media on the topics of Indigenous cultural preservation, ethical lifestyles, and visibility.
Article by Lucrezia Dipasquale