{"id":238444,"date":"2025-10-25T04:16:12","date_gmt":"2025-10-25T04:16:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/238444\/"},"modified":"2025-10-25T04:16:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-25T04:16:12","slug":"little-north-miniatures-aim-to-make-a-big-country-a-little-more-accessible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/238444\/","title":{"rendered":"Little North miniatures aim to make a big country a little more accessible"},"content":{"rendered":"

Toronto attraction adds new display paying tribute to Nunavut, N.W.T. and Yukon<\/p>\n

Tucked two stories below Toronto\u2019s downtown Sankofa Square sits a miniature model of Canada called Little Canada.<\/p>\n

Its Little North exhibition \u2014 featuring miniatures of scenes from Nunavut, the Yukon, and the Northwest Territories \u2014 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe team came to me and said, \u2018We don\u2019t really feel 100 per cent comfortable working on the North because we don\u2019t know the stories,’\u201d said Jean-Louis Brenninkmeijer, founder and chief visionary officer of Little Canada, in an interview on the new display\u2019s opening day.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe delayed it and engaged with an Indigenous consultant who helped us curate the whole story.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Jean-Louis Brenninkmeijer, the founder of the Little Canada, stands in front of some Nunavut miniatures that are part of the Toronto attraction\u2019s new Little North display. Just off to the right is the Little North Pole.(Photo by Sam Shields, special to Nunatsiaq News)<\/p>\n

Nancy Sumioka and Maggie Koczur, two miniature \u201cmakers,\u201d passionately spoke about the importance of consulting those who are represented in Little North. Sumioka\u2019s 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 \u2014 she has also started watching northern movies and TV.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/a><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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 \u201cparts of Canada I can\u2019t afford to travel to.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Mary-Beth Sowerby and her daughter Teei-Anna stand in front of the Little North Pole, where figurines prepare for Christmas. It\u2019s part of a new display at Toronto\u2019s Little Canada attraction. (Photo by Sam Shields, special to Nunatsiaq News)<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen people start to think about where they want to be placed, they\u2019re thinking of connection,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re thinking of a moment in time that resonates with them. Whether it\u2019s where I got married, where I proposed to my wife, where they went to school, where I was born, there\u2019s a story behind each one of those places.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cConnection is through experiences,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough memories, through storytelling. A lot of things can be taken away from you. But there\u2019s one thing that no one can ever take away from you, and that is those connections and those memories.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brenninkmeijer said Little Canada can be a \u201cconduit\u201d 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\u2019re not familiar with.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you start to understand the other side of the table, or the person you\u2019re talking to, the better connection you can get. That should lead over time to truth and reconciliation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The makers remain diligent at telling stories through their art. Sowerby said there is \u201csomething new to notice every time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/a><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

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\u2019s Little Canada attraction. (Photo by Sam Shields, special to Nunatsiaq News)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Toronto attraction adds new display paying tribute to Nunavut, N.W.T. and Yukon Tucked two stories below Toronto\u2019s downtown…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":238445,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[49,48,295,66],"class_list":["post-238444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238444","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=238444"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238444\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/238445"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=238444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=238444"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=238444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}