Marika Sila
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Marika Sila | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 18, 1992 |
| Occupations | 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]
Other ventures
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]