Little North miniatures aim to make a big country a little more accessible

Tucked two storeys below Toronto’s downtown Sankofa Square sits a miniature model of Canada called Little Canada.

Its Little North exhibition — featuring miniatures of scenes from Nunavut, the Yukon, and the Northwest Territories — opened on Oct. 17. It was initially intended to open in 2022, but was paused for three years to ensure the model faithfully and respectfully reflected the people of the North.

“The team came to me and said, ‘We don’t really feel 100 per cent comfortable working on the North because we don’t know the stories,'” said Jean-Louis Brenninkmeijer, founder and chief visionary officer of Little Canada, in an interview on the new display’s opening day.

“We delayed it and engaged with an Indigenous consultant who helped us curate the whole story.”

Jean-Louis Brenninkmeijer, the founder of the Little Canada, stands in front of some Nunavut miniatures that are part of the Toronto attraction’s new Little North display. Just off to the right is the Little North Pole.(Photo by Sam Shields, special to Nunatsiaq News)

Nancy Sumioka and Maggie Koczur, two miniature “makers,” passionately spoke about the importance of consulting those who are represented in Little North. Sumioka’s connection deepened as a result of the consultation. She said she sees personal connections between Inuit values of stewardship of and respect for the land and lessons from her Japanese roots — she has also started watching northern movies and TV.

Temperature-controlled to be cooler than the rest of the display areas, Little North showcases Nunavut: a sign for the Road to Nowhere; pingos; a miniature of the legislative assembly in Iqaluit; and northern homes in front of a moving projection of the northern lights.

Opening day visitors came from California, New York and beyond. Vera Bobko from Calgary said the exhibit allowed her to see parts of Canada she would not be able to visit personally.

Mary-Beth Sowerby brought her school-aged daughter, Teei-Anna, to Little Canada every day school was not in session to learn and to show her “parts of Canada I can’t afford to travel to.”

Mary-Beth Sowerby and her daughter Teei-Anna stand in front of the Little North Pole, where figurines prepare for Christmas. It’s part of a new display at Toronto’s Little Canada attraction. (Photo by Sam Shields, special to Nunatsiaq News)

For Brenninkmeijer, connection is at the heart of the project. A visitor can pay to have a miniaturized three-quarter-inch version of themselves placed within the exhibit, Brenninkmeijer said.

“When people start to think about where they want to be placed, they’re thinking of connection,” he said.

“They’re thinking of a moment in time that resonates with them. Whether it’s where I got married, where I proposed to my wife, where they went to school, where I was born, there’s a story behind each one of those places.”

“Connection is through experiences,” he continued.

“Through memories, through storytelling. A lot of things can be taken away from you. But there’s one thing that no one can ever take away from you, and that is those connections and those memories.”

Brenninkmeijer said Little Canada can be a “conduit” to start a conversation by telling the public basic stories of the North. That can foster connections and understanding between visitors to the site and parts of the country they’re not familiar with.

“When you start to understand the other side of the table, or the person you’re talking to, the better connection you can get. That should lead over time to truth and reconciliation,” he said.

The makers remain diligent at telling stories through their art. Sowerby said there is “something new to notice every time.”

As a conversation with Sowerby drew on, her daughter Teei-Anna, restless to see the new addition, politely reminded her mother that it was time to check it out.

A miniature version of the Qamutiik building at the Four Corners on Queen Elizabeth Way in Iqaluit is featured in the Little North exhibit in Toronto’s Little Canada attraction. (Photo by Sam Shields, special to Nunatsiaq News)