Inuusivut Sapirnaqtuq

Inuusivut Sapirnaqtuq is a short documentary that explores the devastation caused by coastal erosion in Tuktoyaktuk through the eyes of local Deva-Lynn Pokiak and researcher, Dustin Whalin as they work to better understand the erosion before the the community is forced to relocate.

Tuktoyaktuk, a small Inuvialuit community located in the Canadian high Arctic, is disappearing into the ocean.

The community is eroding by an average of 3 meters per year and is on track to become the first community in Canada to be completely relocated because of erosion and rising sea levels. This has resulted in the loss of land, homes, and infrastructure, and is causing significant cultural and social impacts.

As the erosion continues - the community graveyard now hangs in the balance threatening the graves of the community’s ancestors as year after year, metre by metre, the land and the community wash away.

But the community is fighting back. On the Edge follows Project Nuna, a team of southern based researchers and locals that are working together to study and decelerate the erosion.

Deva-Lynn Pokiak, works with Project Nuna as the community liaison officer, bridging the gap between Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit and western science. An Inuk mother, she longs for her daughter to live in the same Tuktoyaktuk she did. To hunt and harvest on the same lands where her father taught her.

She works alongside Dustin Whalin, a physical scientist who has dedicated his career to the issue, as researchers and community members alike race to find answers.

Will viable solutions be found? How will Indigenous knowledge and western science work together? And howwill Deva-Lynn and her community persevere against the vast consequences of climate change?

Inuusivut Sapirnaqtuq

Impact Pictures Inc.