Growing up in Inuvik, located in Canada’s Northwest Territories, Indigenous model Willow Allen always remembers being outside—whether she was helping her dad out with hunting for the family, or taking fun snowmobile rides with her cousins and friends. “So much of our Inuvialuit culture is based around living out life on the land,” says Allen. “We still go hunting all of the time for most of the meat that we consume.”
Since becoming a fashion model, Allen—who was named named as CAFA’s 2022 Fresh Face of the Year, and has grown an impressive audience including 690,000 TikTok followers—has continued to integrate her cultural roots into her work. On her TikTok page, for instance, she often shares different elements of her Inuit culture, including the traditional foods she eats and the significance of Inuit tattoos. Though, her content lately has shifted: After announcing her pregnancy in July, Allen is now using her platform to document her motherhood journey, as she approaches her January due date. “Being a mom is something that I always wanted,” says Allen. “I always saw myself having a big family, because I saw so much love and nurturing in my parents and grandparents; Family gatherings have always been the most fulfilling times of my life.”
Splitting her time between Saskatchewan, Canada—where she and husband Cale Kindrachuk live—and her home base of Inuvik, Allen says she’s begun her maternity journey with more of a mental preparation. “I’ve been learning as much as I can [about motherhood] from my family and asking lots of questions,” she says. In doing so, Allen has shared openly about how she hopes to adapt a more Inuit style of parenting as well. “Inuit parenting style is so gentle: We treat babies and young children with a lot of autonomy,” says Allen. “There’s a respect, and there’s no need to control a child’s life. If they want to do something, that’s their choice. That’s definitely how I was raised. My dad, who’s Inuvialuit—I’ve never seen him angry.”
Having grown up around land-based teachings, Allen also shares that she hopes to bring her child back home to Inuvik frequently—so that they can learn the importance of respecting the earth and land that provides for them. “What I was taught by my family in the north is to always be grateful, and to have so much respect for the animals and the land that provides for us,” says Allen. “I remember when I was really little, my uncle brought home a Ptarmigan, and we were kind of poking at it—my [grandmother] was like, ‘You can’t do that. Have respect for this animal because it’s providing for us.’ It was a big wake up call.”
It’s not to say there hasn’t been certain hurdles to overcome in Allen’s pregnancy. Early-on, the model was diagnosed with Hyperemesis Gravidarum, “which is basically extreme nausea in pregnancy,” says Allen. To combat this, however, the model says she’s been also looking to her own cultural traditions for relief. “When I went home, I talked to my [grandmother] about it, she said that something that always helped with sickness was fish eggs,” says Allen. “I’m definitely going to try that.” When it comes to hospital visits, Allen adds that there’s often a disconnect that occurs between Western remedies and her own Indigenous ones. “Doctors recommend you not eat any raw fish or raw meat, but that s all of our traditional diet in the north,” says Allen. “I was like, ‘That can’t be right, because all of my family has eaten it raw.”
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As she heads into the holidays and comes closer to her due date, Allen says she’s also been enjoying amassing cultural items and regalia for her newborn to wear. (In Indigenous culture, adornment is everything, after all.) “When I went back to Inuvik, I went to to Mavis Jacobson s house: She sells a bunch of Inuit arts and crafts,” says Allen. “She made me a little pair of baby moccasins, and a beaded baby band, which is used to carry the baby.” Allen’s mother has also kept some keepsakes from when the model was a child, too. “I have this huge box of baby clothes, and I have three of my parkas, including my very first parka that my [grandmother] made.” Allen has also been collecting educational children’s books to read, including Our First Caribou Hunt and Mama, Do You love Me? “I want [my child] to understand other Indigenous cultures in Canada,” she says.
For now, though, Allen is simply enjoying the maternity journey, and focusing on getting the rest she needs. You will still find her consistently posting on her TikTok, though. “I definitely want to keep my page really focused on culture,” she says. “But it’s not like when I have the baby, I’m going to suddenly transition to a mom TikToK!” She also has her sights set on returning to the modeling world—eventually. “When I told my agents I was pregnant, I was like, ‘I guess I m done here,’” laughs Allen. “And they were like, ‘No, you re not!’ I’ll go back when I feel ready.”
