“I’m still learning and it’s never too late to learn,” Shauna Seeteenak beams. She is originally from Baker Lake, Nunavut, but now lives in Iqaluit, Nunavut. Skilled in environmental work and music, she is now doing the Inuit Learning and Development Program with the Government of Canada. During this one year program, she alternates between federal departments, having different experiences. Historically, she has done environmental work and rapped on the side.

Always someone who can’t stay still for long, Seeteenak struggled to work in office jobs because she had to be mobile. Doing environmental work, she had the opportunity to do field work and work with animals, keeping Canada’s environment safe. As a musician, she loved to travel, meet new people and inspire audiences in other communities.

As far as her education, Seeteenak attended Nunavut Arctic College for her GED and also Nunavut Sivuniksavut where she learned about Inuit land claims. She decided to work before going back to school, working as a youth wellness counsellor. She also completed the environmental technology program with the Nunavut Arctic College. After graduating last year, she’s now in the environmental science field with the government of Canada.

Her advice for students thinking of leaving their home community is to just do it. Seeteenak acknowledges that it will be difficult but friends can bridge the gap and be there during hard times. She believes that in going away there could be opportunities.

When it comes to obstacles, Seeteenak struggled to stay focused and do her work at school and in her employment. She also had a hard time with homesickness, something she describes as “one of the most helpless feelings that you could have” which eventually goes away.

If Seeteenak could share a message with her younger self it would be to stay in school and to focus on self-improvement because the value of doing so would be clear when she gets older. She would also tell herself that people would come and go out of her life.

To keep her mental health in check, Seeteenak draws, goes out on her ATV to spend time on the land with her dog and she works on her music. Creating music helps her express how she is feeling.

When Seeteenak needs inspiration, she looks to how she was raised and to life in Nunavut. “There are a lot of beautiful things here, but there are a lot of not beautiful things. It's nice to share stories that are real and close to your heart,” she explains.

Doing environmental work and making music on the side, Shauna Seeteenak protects the beauty of the land and creates more beauty through her creativity. Inspired by life in Nunavut and how she was raised, she’s working in the environmental science field with the government of Canada and making music on the side. While staying focused and being homesick was hard, she found her way through and now she’s learning every day.

Thanks to Alison Tedford Seaweed for authoring this article.