Artist lives in:
Ottawa, ON
Community artist is from:
Pond Inlet, NU
Categories of art practiced:
Throat Singer, Playwright, Artistic Director, Actor, Ajaja singer and performer.
Preferred subjects & themes:
Sheena’s work focuses on Inuit lives, culture and history, as well as the exploration and celebration of Inuit identity through theatre. She boldly approaches historical issues which incorporate family and community members as well as aspects of traditional Inuit culture.
Year of Birth:
1976
Artist’s background:
At the age of 9 Sheena watched Tununiq Theatre live for the first time. She saw her two uncles alongside Pakak Inukshuk performing a drum dance as part of the original 1985 play Changes and was inspired by seeing her Inuit identity so beautifully reflected through this art form. It was this experience that motivated her to pursue the art of performance and theatre as a means to tell Inuit stories. She later would revisit this work.
Her first opportunity to participate in theatre was in high school Takijualuk drama classes, which led to the creation of the play Giving Voice to Our Elders, written and directed by her teacher, Adele Corey. The play was so successful that it toured to Europe, and later was filmed in Yellowknife.
Sheena’s work in the arts is often seasonal, and has taken place alongside her 15 year long work for the government of Nunavut. She has also been involved as a board member for organizations such as Qulliq Energy Corporation and Pond Inlet District Education Authority Committee as well as a selection committee member with the Canada Council for the Arts.
Sheena has worked with and learned from artistic directors Ellen Hamilton, Christopher Morris, Sid Bobb, Cheryl Cashman and Martha Burns among others.
Displayed work & Artist Feedback:
Sheena has been performing for the past 30 years, both as a member of Tununiq Theatre Group, and in her work as a cultural performer in collaboration with Pond Inlet cruise ships for international travellers, beginning in the early 90’s. In her cultural performance, Sheena presents traditional Ajaja songs and throat singing.
Sheena has worked extensively with Tununiq theater group. While this group was originally begun in Pond Inlet in 1985 with Pakak Inukshuk and Ellen Hamilton, it was later revitalized by Sheena in 2006.
Other notable performances that Sheena has created are:
- 2021 “AKIA”, a play about the legend of the Inuit arctic mermaid, directed, written and adapted by Sheena, from a work in progress by the original Tuniniq theatre group, presented by Qaggiavut in Iqaluit
- 2019 “PISIVUT” – performances of Inuit traditional songs passed down from elders and co-directed by Sheena & Ellen Hamilton, presented by Qaggiavut in Iqaluit
- 2017 “KIVIUQ RETURNS – a play about Inuit legends & myths, co-directed by Sheena and Martha Burns, presented by Qaggiavut in Iqaluit
- 2012, Changes adapted from 1985 to newly include scenes about the role of the RCMP in the removal of children from Northern communities. She brought back members of the original cast and their descendents, including the son of Pakaak Inukshuk, with the Tununiq Theatre group in Pond Inlet
Throughout the research process for the original Changes project in the mid eighties, the Tununiq group worked with elders in the community of Pond Inlet and from Hall Beach to incorporate drum dancing and traditional Ajjajja singing.
- 2011, “AKAVAK”, a play adapted, directed and produced by Sheena, about Inuit Legends, based on a book James Huston and performed in Pond Inlet, with the Tununiq Theatre group
- 2010, “INUUTIARNIQ”, a play about Positive Living. Written, Directed and Produced by Sheena, and presented in Pond Inlet, with the Tununiq Theatre group
- 2009, “QALLUPILLUK”, a play about the legend of the sea monster, and the process of child rearing from birth to adulthood, written and performed collectively with Tununiq Theatre Group and elders Annie and Jayko Peterloosie, co-directed and produced by Sheena and Sid Bobb
- 2007, “SAQIYUQ” based on a book by Nancy Wachowich about 3 generations of Pond Inlet women, co-directed and produced by Sheena, and presented in Pond Inlet & Iqaluit, with Tununiq Theatre Group, and performer Abbie Ootova, and elder Annie Peterloosie
- 2006, “SILATIVUT”, a play for National Addictions Awareness Week co-written with Nasivvik High School students in Pond Inlet, with Tununiq Theatre group
Reception by the community:
Sheena’s work has a brilliant capacity to engage and involve Inuit audiences in healing and community (re)-building. Her work is described as very powerful, eliciting strong emotions, with consistent positive feedback from audiences. Often she receives feedback as to how much viewers learn about Inuit culture, including throat singing, drum dancing, challenges of high Arctic survival, and historical issues such as the seal skin boycott.
Sheena has performed at Alianait Festival, Winterlude Festival, NAC, Museum of History, on Parliament Hill, and at community events such as the opening of Annie Pootoogook Park, in Ottawa, and to raise awareness for matters of Inuit justice such as residential schools.
One of Sheena’s most moving moments has been to experience the impact of the play Changes. By including scenes in which families fought to keep their children from removal by RCMP agents, the play offered a new depth of understanding for Inuit communities, right at the moment where Truth and Reconciliation compensation was being distributed. Audience members who had survived residential schools expressed that they were finally able to see that they had been fought for, to understand the love and pain of their parents, and to feel the deep impact that their absence had within their communities. The play helped to foster discussions about residential schools and its lasting impact, and to bring about healing. It is this transformational power of storytelling that keeps Sheena writing and performing.
Artist’s Involvement with Traditional Inuit Culture:
Sheena has four children, all of whom are performers and have participated in cruise ship shows since they were young. Their performances have adapted as her children grew, incorporating traditional clothing and child-rearing practices like the Amautii (baby carrier), as well as Ajaja song and dance, and traditional Inuit games like the lip pull. Sheena’s daughter, Nagliniq, is often seen performing with Sheena as her throat singing partner.
Words of wisdom to other artists:
Sheena encourages aspiring theater artists and writers to “pursue your dreams,” emphasizing the importance of taking a chance, because “if you don’t try, it won’t happen”. She also encourages the youth to preserve and pass on their Inuit culture to future generations.
Current Work:
Sheena is currently planning and writing a play about Inuit Justice, based on a 1920s incident in Pond Inlet, told through oral history in her lineage, and collected in books like Arctic Justice and Thou Shall Not Murder.
To book this Artist: Send sheena an email at tununiq06@gmail.com