Alaskan Inuk reality TV star to tour western Nunavut

Ariel Tweto visited Kugluktuk last March to speak to former residential school students, parents and youth about setting goals. Tweto will return to Nunavut this month to visit communities across the Kitikmeot region. (PHOTO COURTESY OF THE SOCIETY FOR BUILDING A HEALTHIER KUGLUKTUK)

Alaskan Inuk reality television star Ariel Tweto is on her way back to Nunavut this month, bringing her suicide prevention message to communities in Nunavut’s western Kitikmeot region.

Tweto first visited Nunavut last spring, when she was invited to Kugluktuk to speak to youth there about setting goals.

During her visit, Tweto came up with the motto “Popping Bubbles.” By that, Tweto said she’s referring to the little bubbles people stay inside within their daily lives, including people who are lonely, sad and don’t know how to get help.

So, by “popping bubbles,” Tweto hopes to help young Inuit step outside their comfort zone and set bigger goals for themselves.

Now “popping bubbles” become the name of her tour, which will visit Gjoa Haven, Kugluktuk, Cambridge Bay, Taloyoak and Kugaaruk later this month.

“I’m very excited to be heading back up to Canada and be given the opportunity to talk to the people in the remote communities of Nunavut,” Tweto said in a Sept. 4 release.

“I want to share my experiences with others and hopefully inspire people to step outside of their comfort zone, dream big and of course help Pop as many Bubbles as I can…. and I’m really excited to eat some home cooked country food too!!!!”

Tweto, an Inupiaq from Unalakleet, Alaska, was featured on Discovery Channel’s Flying Wild Alaska for three seasons.

Tweto’s interest in suicide prevention comes from personal experience growing up in Alaksa.

A few years ago, Tweto said she lost her best friend to suicide.

“He was my classmate, and competition in everything from basketball to math class… He was my knight at prom, and he always gave the best hugs when I would come home to visit after moving away,” Tweto said.

“I was so confused when I got the news because he was one of the last people in the world that I ever thought would do it,” she said. “He was smart, good looking and he seemed really happy. I began asking myself all sorts of questions. Why did he do it? Why does anybody do it? How could a person who seemed so put together take their own life?”

Whatever pressures young people feel, suicide should never be an option, Tweto said.

And that’s the message she hopes to bring as part of her Popping Bubbles tour, which begins in Gjoa Haven Sept. 18.

From there, Tweto will visit Kugaaruk Sept. 19 to Sept. 21, Taloyoak Sept. 21 to Sept. 24, and Cambridge Bay from Sept. 24 to Sept. 28 and winding up in Kugluktuk Sept. 28 to Sept. 30.

Read more about the tour here.