Shina Novalinga

Social media

TikTok Novalinga gained fame in March 2020 after she began posting viral videos to TikTok under the handle @shinanova which feature aspects of her Inuit culture. As of July 2021, Novalinga's most viewed video portrays her mother brushing and braiding Novalinga's hair to the song "Savage Daughter" by Sarah Hester Ross, with 21.6 million views.

Throat singing

Inuit throat singing is a cultural practice that became increasingly rare after Christian missionaries outlawed the songs as "Satanic" in the early 20th century. In Puvirnituq, Novalinga's mother Carolina Novalinga was one of four Inuit women who were taught the practice to pass on to younger generations.

In the traditional practice of Inuit throat singing, the game is played typically by two women that stand across from each other. They sometimes rock side to side and slightly bounce while they are singing. Between the two people, there is someone that leads by having a rhythmic pattern, while the other person has a response. This is what makes this an enjoyment and what makes the game so significant. Many times, this can last for many minutes because one of people might be low on breath or it generally might be because they are laughing by looking at each other. Almost like a tournament style, the person that won the round would face a new challenger and this would all keep happening until the group of women wanted to stop for the day.

Novalinga first posted herself throat singing in her first video posted to TikTok in March 2020, and has posted dozens of such videos since. Novalinga's throat singing videos feature her facing her mother Carolina in an embrace, singing in a matched rhythm using their throat, belly and diaphragm. They often end in the two breaking song and laughing, which is how the game is normally played.

In June 2021, Novalinga released an album with her mother and Canadian producer Simon Walls, Mother and Daughter Throatsinging.

Fashion Novalinga also uses her platform to model traditional Inuit clothing. She celebrates clothing handmade with local furs and animal skins by her mother Caroline, including (parka), earrings, (mittens), (hats), and (boots). In 2022, she was featured in Elle Canada modelling designs by Inuk designer Victoria Kakuktinniq. to trends on TikTok as a way of sharing her culture, and has collaborated with Cree creators including hoop dancer James Jones and model Michelle Chubb. Novalinga has also created videos drawing attention to the oppressive history of assimilationist residential schools and to missing and murdered indigenous women. In summer 2021 she posted multiple videos reacting to the 2021 Canadian Indian residential schools gravesite discoveries.

Novalinga has used her platform to raise support for various charity causes as well, raising over $12,000 for an indigenous women's shelter in Quebec in December 2020.

Discography Title Details Mother and Daughter Throatsinging Released: June 14, 2021 Label: Self-released Formats: CD, streaming, digital download