The first group of students has recently graduated from a special program aiming to boost Indigenous talent on TikTok, helping social media users on the path to becoming social media stars.
In Deanne Hupfield’s most popular TikTok video, which has one million views, she’s teaching viewers footwork that can accompany a jingle dress dance.
“It went viral,” she told CTV News. “It went viral the first day, and it gave me a lot of anxiety.”
That footwork was part of her homework as one of the people chosen to be a part of TikTok Canada’s accelerator program for Indigenous creators.
“I was to post a video under 30 seconds doing something I’ve never done on Tiktok before,” she said.
Hupfield teaches powwow dancing, and her videos on TikTok feature her going through the steps or performing in regalia.
She now has 70,500 followers on TikTok, but when she applied to the TikTok Accelerator for Indigenous Creators, which started in November and ran through December, she had only just begun her social media journey.
“At that time, I only had four videos up on Tiktok, because I only put enough videos to apply to the program,” Hupfield said.
The accelerator, which is presented by the National Screen Institute, is about amplifying Indigenous content creators.
Sherry McKay mentored Hupfield in the program, partly chosen for her success as an Indigenous creator already thriving on the platform.
McKay has more than 500,000 followers and more than 17 million likes.
Some of her teachings as a mentor were about how creators should believe in themselves.
“Talking about things like imposter syndrome and claiming our space in the digital area as Indigenous people,” she told CTV News.
“Just saying: ‘Claim those gifts. Get out there and do what you’re already doing but be confident in it.’”
McKay creates comedy skits and shares stories on her TikTok, among other types of content.
Having a lot of followers isn’t always a for sure thing, McKay said, adding that she’s wondered, “How long is it going to last, am I just a trend?”
The program, which teaches storytelling techniques that may be successful on the platform, as well as technical skills and personal branding, also teaches the business side of Tiktok.
“There are various levels of popularity on the platform,” Lindsay Lynch, director of creator partnerships and community at TikTok Canada, told CTV News. “People will have millions of followers and be able to make millions of dollars.”
Sometimes even one video can catapult a person, as in the case of Nathan Apodaca, the Indigenous man who captured a much sought after feeling of peace in a 2020 TikTok of him skateboarding to Fleetwood Mac while drinking cranberry juice.
After he became a meme, he garnered millions of followers.
Success on social media is about staying true to yourself, according to Hupfield and McKay.
Indigenous Tiktok has more than a billion views, and with the success of the Indigenous accelerator program, Tiktok is gearing up to build on it for this year.
Health Minister Mark Holland says while he is 'deeply appreciative' of the work doctors in Canada do, the federal government has no plans to scrap the proposed capital gains tax changes outlined in the latest budget, despite opposition from the Canadian Medical Association.
An election-year roast of U.S. President Joe Biden before journalists, celebrities and politicians at the annual White House correspondents' dinner Saturday.
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Human rights groups and diplomats criticized a law that was quietly passed by the Iraqi parliament over the weekend that would impose heavy prison sentences on gay and transgender people.
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Ontario is now home to an invasive and toxic worm species that can grow up to three feet long and can be dangerous to small animals and pets.
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Brad Marchand became the Bruins' all-time leading playoff goal-scorer and added an assist as Boston suffocated the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-1 on Saturday to take a 3-1 lead in the teams' first-round playoff series.
One person has been charged with second-degree murder in connection with the death of a man who fell from a balcony following an altercation inside a Toronto apartment building.
Ontario is now home to an invasive and toxic worm species that can grow up to three feet long and can be dangerous to small animals and pets.
It was a long-awaited reunion at the Calgary International Airport Saturday as Ossama Zaqqout hugged his parents, who had just arrived after fleeing the war in Gaza.
A blue SUV and a motorbike collided Saturday afternoon in the Beltline.
One Siksika Nation resident has been charged and an arrest warrant for a second man has been issued in relation to an April 24 homicide in Gleichen.
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The Ottawa Fire Services says crews have extinguished a fire that engulfed a barn and spread into another nearby building Saturday evening along Woodkilton Road, west of Ottawa.
Several students have launched an encampment at McGill University as they call on the institution to cut financial ties with Israel.
Montreal says public transit trips were up between 15 and 20 per cent among people age 65 and over in the six months after it made the service free for local seniors.
Quebec provincial police say a 51-year-old woman has died after a head-on collision in the town of Lachute, roughly 50 kilometres west of Montreal, early this morning.
Kris Knoblauch is five months into watching Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl go to work.
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A Toronto-based restructuring firm says several bidders have offered to buy all or part of SaltWire Network and The Halifax Herald, the two insolvent companies that operate Atlantic Canada's largest newspaper enterprise.
Halifax’s professional soccer team kicks off its sixth season against Ottawa on Saturday with a sold-out crowd of 6,500 fans on the Wanderers Grounds.
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The trial for the man accused of killing four Indigenous women in Winnipeg is set to get underway on April 29.
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Regina's annual model train showcase rolled into town this weekend at the Caledonian Curling Club.
The team of Commissionaires at The Regina Public Library’s downtown branch have received one of the organization’s top honours.
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.
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Rainy weather for the second year in a row once again did not deter attendees from a special fundraising event.
Workers at group homes run by LutherCare Communities in Saskatoon are escalating their strike action.
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The Municipality of French River has been under a flood watch since Thursday evening and many residents told CTV News that they fear the already high water levels combined with the rain forecasted in the coming days may cause more widespread flooding.
One person was killed in a six-vehicle crash on Highway 400 in Innisfil Friday evening.
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Approximately 5.5 per cent of registered voters have cast their ballot as advanced polling in the Lambton-Kent-Middlesex by-election gets underway.
Police in Meaford are investigating after a senior drowned Saturday morning.
One person was killed in a six-vehicle crash on Highway 400 in Innisfil Friday evening.
Police in Meaford are investigating after a senior drowned Saturday morning.
Despite the poor weather, a festival celebrating all things maple syrup drew thousands of people to Elmvale on Saturday.
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The lawyer for a residential school survivor leading a proposed class-action defamation lawsuit against the Catholic Church over residential schools says the court action is a last resort.
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State-sponsored actors targeted security devices used by governments around the world, according to technology firm Cisco Systems, which said the network devices are coveted intrusion points by spies.
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The Hubble Space Telescope has captured a stunning new image of the glowing gas ejected from a dying star, which in this case happens to resemble a 'cosmic dumbbell.'
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Mookie Betts went 3 for 5, including a triple and an RBI single, as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 4-2 on Saturday.
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