MFA student Taalrumiq brings Inuvialuit stories to the runway

From her runway features at Vancouver Indigenous Fashion Week 2024 (VIFW) to storytelling through social media, Low Residency Master of Fine Arts (MFA) student and Inuvialuit and Gwich’in artist Taalrumiq (MFA 2026) is redefining what it means to honour cultural traditions while embracing evolving artistic expressions. By blending traditional Inuvialuit practices with contemporary fashion design, her work reflects themes of resilience, identity and hope.

The Low Residency MFA at Emily Carr University of Art + Design (ECU) is a two-year, full-time program offering students the flexibility to expand their fine arts or media studies practice while balancing personal and professional commitments. As a working artist and mother of five, Taalrumiq was drawn to the program as a way to pursue graduate studies remotely while taking care of her family in Terrace, BC on Ts’msyen traditional territory.

“I learned about this program a few years ago, and the low-residency aspect appealed to me,” says Taalrumiq. “I could still look after my family at home and not have to relocate to enroll in master's studies. Everything about the program, including the arts focus, worked out for my family and life situation.”

Taalrumiq was initially inspired by role models in her community who became educators. Their examples motivated her to pursue a career as a home economics and art teacher, allowing her to remain engaged in creative and fashion spaces. While she never imagined a place for herself in the fashion or professional arts industries, she now uses her skills as an educator to teach a new generation about Inuvialuit fashion and cultural practices through social media.

“Using my social media was a chance for me to share my culture from my point of view — my lived experience, from being raised in the small, isolated Inuit hamlet of Tuktoyaktuk to what life is like for me now, as a contemporary Inuvialuk,” says Taalrumiq. “I feel like I have one foot in my culture's traditional ways and then one in the modern world, where my clothing and work are on the runway and in gallery spaces."

She continues, “Being able to share that, along with a little teaching—like Inuvialuktun words and phrases, sharing food from my culture and what my mom taught me—has helped elevate my work. Of course, it also allows me to share my art and fashion. Social media has helped give me new opportunities.”

Appearing at marquee events such as the Indigenous Fashion Arts Festival in Toronto and at VIFW have allowed Taalrumiq to showcase her community and address important social issues including the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) movement, 2SLGBTQIA+ rights and residential school history. Her work draws on personal experiences, such as incorporating her residential school apology documents from the Canadian Government to challenge denialism online.

“We're in a time where there's the ugly side of social media, including residential school denialism, racism and general negativity toward Indigenous Creators,” says Taalrumiq. “My response was to show the apology I received by printing it onto a silk dress. I wanted to use the document to reaffirm that this is not ancient history, and it is real, and still impacts us today. Not only Indigenous People but all Canadians. I use fashion to address these issues, highlight them, create awareness and serve as a teaching tool.”

The garments she presents often result from a collective community effort, with each piece telling its own story. She sources additions to her presentations from fellow practitioners, such as sealskin mocs from her sister Elizabeth, owner of Arctic Ocean Mocs, and jewelry from her cousin Erica, owner of She Was a Free Spirit and a local Terrace-based artist, Jamie, owner of Jada Creations. She also incorporates heirloom pieces made by her great-naanak, after whom she is named. At VIFW, as part of her Intergenerational Love, Hope, and Joy collection, she debuted a red dress symbolizing the MMIW movement. The garment was modelled by her 17-year-old daughter, who shares her passion for Indigenous human rights.

“Having all this support behind the scenes from people within my family and community—it's like we're all being showcased together,” says Taalrumiq. “They all have an equally important role in this as well. I dedicated this collection to our children and youth because they're our greatest resource. They're our hope for the future.”

Looking ahead, Taalrumiq is focused on completing her MFA, including the research component on historical Inuvialuit fashion, which she believes will become her lifelong work. In 2025, she will represent the Inuvialuit community by presenting at the prestigious SWAIA Native Fashion Week in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

You can follow Taalrumiq’s work on her social media including Instagram and Tiktok.

Visit our website for more information about the low-residency Master of Fine Arts program.