Marika Sila | |
---|---|
Born | |
Nationality | Canadian Inuvialuk |
Occupation(s) | actress, content creator, social activist |
Family | Jesse Cockney |
Marika Sila (born March 18, 1992) [1] [2] is a Canadian Inuvialuk actress, content creator, and social activist. Born in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, her family (originally from Tuktoyaktuk) moved to Canmore, Alberta when she was five years old. [3] [4] [5] Olympic cross-country skier Jesse Cockney is her older brother. [3] [6]
Sila focuses on roles which she feels portray Indigenous people in a positive way, saying that her acting career serves to "build a platform so I can speak about important Indigenous rights issues and climate issues." [7] Her first major acting role was in a 2019 episode of The Twilight Zone, "A Traveler," where she portrayed an Inuk police officer. [7] [8] [9] Sila next appeared as a police officer in four episodes of Canadian police procedural series Tribal in 2020. [7] Her lead performance as an Inuk paramedic in Canadian horror film Ditched (2022) was well-received, with one reviewer calling her "reason enough to stick with the story." [10]
In March 2022, she announced that she was producing and directing a documentary about the reaction of Inuit elders and community leaders to the bodies discovered at former residential schools. [5] The documentary will be titled What's Next? On Canada's RedPath to Reconciliation. [5]
In September 2022, Sila and her brother Jesse competed in The Amazing Race Canada 8, and came in second place. [11] [12]
Sila's TikTok has over 364,000 followers as of April 2023 [update]. [2] She began posting on TikTok in April 2020 at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada. [13] Her content is a mixture of education about Inuit culture and social issues; social activism relating to missing and murdered Indigenous women, the Canadian Indian residential school system, and the bodies of children buried at the schools; and stunt performances, including hoop dancing, fire spinning, and weapons handling. [4] [14] [15]
In 2021, Sila launched RedPath Radio, a podcast aimed at preserving and sharing Indigenous cultural knowledge and stories. [16] She is also the owner of RedPath Talent, an entertainment and talent management agency focused on Indigenous performers. [7] [17]
Sila has also appeared as a model. In 2020, she was a quarterfinalist in the Maxim Cover Girl contest. [6] In 2022, she was a model for the third iteration of Project Atigi, a capsule collection created by Inuk designer Victoria Kakuktinniq for winterwear brand Canada Goose. [18] [19]
Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|
2016 | Lucifer | Barfing Girl | Episode " The Would-Be Prince of Darkness" | [8] |
2019 | The Twilight Zone | Sergeant Yuka Mongoyak | Episode "A Traveler" | [8] |
2020 | Tribal | Justine Trueblood | 4 episodes | [7] |
2021 | The Secret History of: The Wild West | Young Blackfoot Woman | Episode "Louder than Words" | [20] |
2021 | Hudson & Rex | Veena Kalvak | Episode "Fanning the Flames" | [21] |
2021 | Ditched | Melina | [10] | |
2022 | The Amazing Race Canada 8 | Self/Contestant | Competed with brother Jesse Cockney | [22] |
2023 | Finality of Dusk | Ishkode | [23] |
Marika Sila | |
---|---|
Born | |
Nationality | Canadian Inuvialuk |
Occupation(s) | actress, content creator, social activist |
Family | Jesse Cockney |
Marika Sila (born March 18, 1992) [1] [2] is a Canadian Inuvialuk actress, content creator, and social activist. Born in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, her family (originally from Tuktoyaktuk) moved to Canmore, Alberta when she was five years old. [3] [4] [5] Olympic cross-country skier Jesse Cockney is her older brother. [3] [6]
Sila focuses on roles which she feels portray Indigenous people in a positive way, saying that her acting career serves to "build a platform so I can speak about important Indigenous rights issues and climate issues." [7] Her first major acting role was in a 2019 episode of The Twilight Zone, "A Traveler," where she portrayed an Inuk police officer. [7] [8] [9] Sila next appeared as a police officer in four episodes of Canadian police procedural series Tribal in 2020. [7] Her lead performance as an Inuk paramedic in Canadian horror film Ditched (2022) was well-received, with one reviewer calling her "reason enough to stick with the story." [10]
In March 2022, she announced that she was producing and directing a documentary about the reaction of Inuit elders and community leaders to the bodies discovered at former residential schools. [5] The documentary will be titled What's Next? On Canada's RedPath to Reconciliation. [5]
In September 2022, Sila and her brother Jesse competed in The Amazing Race Canada 8, and came in second place. [11] [12]
Sila's TikTok has over 364,000 followers as of April 2023 [update]. [2] She began posting on TikTok in April 2020 at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada. [13] Her content is a mixture of education about Inuit culture and social issues; social activism relating to missing and murdered Indigenous women, the Canadian Indian residential school system, and the bodies of children buried at the schools; and stunt performances, including hoop dancing, fire spinning, and weapons handling. [4] [14] [15]
In 2021, Sila launched RedPath Radio, a podcast aimed at preserving and sharing Indigenous cultural knowledge and stories. [16] She is also the owner of RedPath Talent, an entertainment and talent management agency focused on Indigenous performers. [7] [17]
Sila has also appeared as a model. In 2020, she was a quarterfinalist in the Maxim Cover Girl contest. [6] In 2022, she was a model for the third iteration of Project Atigi, a capsule collection created by Inuk designer Victoria Kakuktinniq for winterwear brand Canada Goose. [18] [19]
Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|
2016 | Lucifer | Barfing Girl | Episode " The Would-Be Prince of Darkness" | [8] |
2019 | The Twilight Zone | Sergeant Yuka Mongoyak | Episode "A Traveler" | [8] |
2020 | Tribal | Justine Trueblood | 4 episodes | [7] |
2021 | The Secret History of: The Wild West | Young Blackfoot Woman | Episode "Louder than Words" | [20] |
2021 | Hudson & Rex | Veena Kalvak | Episode "Fanning the Flames" | [21] |
2021 | Ditched | Melina | [10] | |
2022 | The Amazing Race Canada 8 | Self/Contestant | Competed with brother Jesse Cockney | [22] |
2023 | Finality of Dusk | Ishkode | [23] |