Documentary follows Inuit Gwitch'in man as he builds a traditional sod houses in his home community

Airs August 6, 2022
8 p.m. on CBC Manitoba or stream it on CBC Gem.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Kylik Kisoun's tour company, Tundra North Tours, collapsed in a matter of days. The borders to the Northwest Territories closed, and stayed closed for more than a year.

After closing down and selling most of the company's infrastructure, Kisoun and his family found a new calling: starting an off-grid farm based on Indigenous methods of hunting and gathering.

In the summer of 2021, his newfound lifestyle inspired Kisoun to begin a passion project of building a livable sod house made from natural materials. 

There's no reason we should have a housing crisis, there's no reason why we should have food insecurity. Everything is here. It's just been systematically taken from us. And this is us standing up together and saying: we're going to change that narrative.- Kylik Kisoun

The practice of building Inuvialuit sod houses is a lost art; the last one was built in the Arctic in the early 1900's. The traditional dwellings were made from a dugout, and a timber frame supported sod that insulated the house. 

The treeless arctic tundra meant that Inuit used large poplar and spruce logs that traveled down the Mackenzie river during the spring run-off. The floors of the sod house are embedded into the permafrost, which keeps dwellers warm.

Kisoun's vision for his sod house is a fusion of old and new technology; it will have solar power and modern finishes. His goal is to create affordable and sustainable housing in the Arctic, which has been experiencing a housing crisis for years.

With the help of his peers, Okpik: Little Village in the Arctic follows Kisoun as he re-imagines his future, and the future of his community, in a post-pandemic world.

Watch Okpik: Little Village in the Arctic on Saturday, August 6 or stream it on CBC Gem.