NorthernHer show highlights women across N.W.T.

From hunting in the tundra to foraging in the boreal forest of the subarctic, a new show is profiling women from across the Northwest Territories.

NorthernHer is a three-episode television series that begins Monday on Northwestel. It will also air on CBC's Absolutely Canadian in late-summer.

It's the creation of Caroline Cox and her business partner, Tiffany Ayalik, who also doubles as the show's host, and profiles well-known women in the territory.

Each episode features two women. Of the six that are profiled, Cox says three are from Yellowknife, two are from the Sahtu region and one is from the South Slave.

"Folks in the South might find it interesting that women go out on the land and go hunting and fish and manage businesses that are out in the wilderness," Cox said in an interview with CBC Trail's End host Lawrence Nayally.

Cox said she was fortunate to be able to travel to parts of the territory she's never been to before while shooting the series, including Tuktoyaktuk and Tsiigehtchic, where she profiled Julie-Ann Andre who grew up on the land until she was seven.

"You don't hear about that too often anymore," she said.

Shooting wrapped up in March, right before the N.W.T. tightened restrictions to combat COVID-19.

Cox said luckily the pandemic hasn't hampered getting the show to air. 

Women in front of and behind the camera

The series provided an opportunity for Cox to work with up and coming filmmakers in the territory, or as she explains, "a chance to mentor and give people a chance to spread their wings a little in the creative side of filmmaking."

She said she hopes the show might inspire the next generation of young women to get out on the land or run a business of their own.

"There's also some beautiful landscapes so hopefully the audience will get to see some parts of the territory they haven't been to before," Cox said.