Yukoner selected for national Tik Tok program

Tuesday, 2 November 2021 17:05

By Dylan MacNeil

Aunty Jocey teaches how to keep calm with nature.

Aunty Jocey bridges traditional teaching and science.

In the endless sea of dance videos and cat memes that is Tik Tok, there’s Aunty Jocey. Standing in the forest and on the edge of creeks, she brings traditional Indigenous teachings to the social media platform.

Her real name is Jocelyn Joe-Strack and she’s a member of the Wolf Clan of Champagne and Aishihik First Nation, an artist, a scientist trained in microbiology and hydrology, and she’s the Chair of Indigenous Knowledge Research at Yukon University.

“I held off for quite a while. I’m like a geriatric millennial,” Joe-Strack told CHONfm over the phone.

She says social media hasn’t always been her forte, but she decided to take the plunge and see what all the kids were talking about and found the water was warm. She was drawn to other Indigenous Tik Tokers.

“You can hashtag native Tik Tok or hashtag Indigenous Tik Tok and it’s like a whole community of Indigenous creators that are sharing knowledge, sharing humour, sharing the land, and practices about reconciliation and every child matters,” said Joe-Strack.

Joe-Strack has only been making Tik Toks since August, but she’s already racked up more than 17 thousand followers and over 100 thousand likes. She talks about things like climate change, inequality in Indigenous rights, and making mistakes with language. She also tries to connect Indigenous culture to science.

“In the Indigenous way the land is always teaching us. It’s teaching us to share, to work together, and how to live. We observe the animals or have even deeper – a relationship with the animals,” she saids.

Aunty Jocey is one of 30 creators, and the only one in the Yukon, selected to be a part of the first ever TikTok Accelerator for Indigenous Creators, an online program designed to help participants up their game.

She says she is excited to be a part of the group and learn some new tips and tricks.

The content creators will learn all about social presence, usage, audience engagement, trends, analytics and best practices. They will also be taught media career building, social responsibility, and get some technical training.

Host of the program and content creator Sherry McKay said in a statement, “we have so many untold stories that are waiting to be shared,”

“Because there are teachings in each story, my hopes are that these creators will gain the technical skills and knowledge to not only tell their stories but inspire others to do so as well.”

The online classes presented by the National Screen Institute will kick off November 8.

You can follow @auntyjocey on Tik Tok.