This two-spirit advocate uses TikTok to push past reconciliation — and towards action

Kairyn Potts doesn't think of himself as famous — but his nieces insist he most definitely is. 

"I love them. They're totally, like, my biggest fans and are like, 'Oh my God, my uncle's famous!' And that's so funny, because I'm not," Potts, 29, told As It Happens host Nil Köksal. 

But the internet star's reach and influence are undeniable. 

A youth advocate and former social worker from the Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation near Edmonton, he has amassed hundreds of thousands of followers on Instagram, Twitch, and TikTok. He also co-hosts the Snapchat series Reclaim(ed) with Marika Sila, which explores Indigenous culture through a gen-Z perspective. 

His videos are equal parts entertainment and education, mixing comedy, slice of life, activism and information. And he's one of many Indigenous creators who have built large audiences on these platforms.

"I've known that Indigenous people were creative my entire life, but it seemed like the public didn't really get a chance to see that," Potts said. 

"It's not a stretch to say that representation, like the kind of representation that's happening on social media for Indigenous young people, is lifesaving. Because, for once, we get to kind of see possibilities."

Those possibilities have been evident across the country. Jocelyn Joe-Strack, a TikToker from Inuvik, N.W.T., told CBC North the platform helped her get through the pandemic and remain sober. Michelle Chubb, a Cree TikTokker from Bunibonibee Cree Nation in Manitoba, told CBC Winnipeg it allows her share her culture with an audience of thousands. Hovak and Braden Johnston, an Inuit mother-son TikTok duo, say creating videos together helped them grow closer together.

For Potts, the representation is doubly important as a two-spirit person.

"The biggest teaching that I got as a two-spirit person is that I'm somebody who builds community. I'm one of those inbetweeners, as they say — somebody who kind of bridges gaps and brings people together. And I really take that seriously."

Potts sat down with Köksal in Toronto, where he now lives, just a few days before Canada's second National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, a federal holiday to remember the atrocities committed against Indigenous children in Canada's residential schools.

Asked whether platforms like TikTok can be a place for reconciliation, he said: "Yes and no."

"Even the word reconciliation, I call it the R-word. I don't know if I even like that word," Potts said.

"I really have preferred calling it reconcili-action, because there's kind of this weird dichotomy online where there's a lot of learning and a lot of content that's being pushed out … but somebody can just keep scrolling and then, like, nothing really changes, right?"