Inuk describes her life as walking with one foot in the old world of traditions and one foot in the new world, sharing Inuit culture and lifestyles with her 28,000 TikTok followers.
Inuk, also known as Brendalynn Trennert, posted her first video on TikTok as a comic relief when the world paused for the pandemic and people were left isolated at home in 2020.
“People really love hearing about our Inuvialuit culture and our lives in the Northwest Territories, firsthand from someone who was born and raised and still lives here,” says Inuk.
Starting with just nine followers, Inuk eventually found her niche on the platform and became vocal about mental health issues, domestic violence and MMIWG – things she believes the world needs to hear more about.
She also makes videos about her artwork made from arctic fur and leather, traditional food and tools such as the Inuvialuit Ulu, or women’s knife.
Videos of Inuk sharing traditional Inuit food and culture have been well-received on TikTok. (Screenshots from Inuk’s account @inuk360)
Inuk says she has built an online community where she feels comfortable sharing the rawness of her life with, including her journey through grief after losing both of her parents this past March.
“I’m still trying to make my way through grief of losing my parents and becoming an orphan, “she says, “but I see the importance of my community when I go live on TikTok, they are very interactive and supportive of me.”
“It gave me more confidence to go after some of my big dreams, and one of them was becoming a plus size model,” says Inuk. She has fulfilled this dream when she collaborated with PENN, a Montreal-based plus size clothing company, in 2022.
“It’s really hard living in this world being a plus size, I get more hatred because of my size,” she says. “It’s taken me this long to realize that it’s okay to love the skin I’m in and then share that story on my social media.”
‘How many people would nail a modeling collaboration at 53?’ Inuk asks. (Photo courtesy of Inuk)
Inuk says the biggest challenge of being a content creator in the North is the lack of resources and opportunities. That’s why she signed up for the second year of TikTok Accelerator for Indigenous Creators, which now open for application for its fourth year.
It’s a free, part-time online training program presented by the National Screen Institute, designed to help Indigenous creators gain essential skills to advance their digital careers.
This year’s program will accept up to 300 qualified participants. Applications close on October 18.
“It helped me understand better how TikTok works,” says Inuk. “But it was even more exciting to meet people that I admire or who inspired me, and it really ended up being a safe place and the connections built are still ongoing after two years.”
For her future plans, Inuk is looking forward to ticking off more boxes of creators she wants to collaborate with, and continue to amplify the voices of other Indigenous people, especially Inuvialuit and Inuit people.
