Netflix’s North of North gives us the Arctic like TV has never shown it before. Created by Stacey Aglok MacDonald and Alethea Arnaquq-Baril, the show is from the perspective of modern Inuk women. The central heroine Siaja, played charismatically by Anna Lambe, declares herself as such in her opening monologue and we see everything from her point of view – the celebrations of her small town Ice Cove (population ~2,000) celebrations, the characters that inhabit it, even what someone’s choice in shoes say about them.

North of North is a celebration of small, Indigenous communities. These aren’t “city Indians” like the characters on Reservation Dogs say. They’re a tight-knit group where someone like Siaja, can know everyone and everyone can know her – including her mother’s history of alcoholism, her golden-boy husband, and even the identity of her father, something her mother Neevee (Maika Harper) never told her.

The show is unapologetic about its perspective, able to transport me, who’s barely even been to Canada, to the Northernmost reaches of our planet and have that setting feel lived in. Clearly, the norms here are different, from expectations around motherhood to the rules of baseball. But it’s also a knowable, human place with the newly separated Siaja trying to find love again and care for her young daughter.

The show’s success clearly hinges on Lambe’s standout performance. As Siaja, she is deeply compelling and super likable. She’s lost but strong, a loveable try-hard. In the first episode, she gets a job at the community center where she’s been volunteering and we get classic workplace comedy vibes thanks to her entitled boss Helen (Mary Lynn Rajskub) and less motivated friends/co-workers Millie (Zorga Qaunaq) and Colin (Bailey Poching).

And in addition to Siaja’s love life and career ambitions, North of North also situates her in a multigenerational family. Her mother, daughter, husband, and father all get plot arcs, letting each be flawed, whole people. Neevee’s performance is particularly strong as the wounded matriarch, still battling the traumas of the past.

With this strong cast and rarely platformed perspective, North of North is able to show the joy, the ridiculousness, and injustices present in modern, Inuk communities. In contrast with say, True Detective: Night Country, it finds lots of laughs in its snow-white setting. But perhaps the most affecting way it presents the Arctic is through Kuuk’s (Braeden Clarke) journey. He starts as an outsider, but gradually falls in love with the town, caring for its elders and seeing a different sense of community than he’s experienced living in the types of environments that Hollywood tends to celebrate. He got panic attacks in law school but finds his sense of purpose in Ice Cove. How many legal/law series are there airing right now? Countless! What about shows focused on Indigenous communities? Very few. In fact, North of North is the first series of its kind to film the Arctic according to Netflix. That’s how rare these types of stories are.

Complementing this celebration is also a gently poking at life so far North, the type that’s allowed when you’re part of the group (as showrunners Aglok MacDonald and Alethea Arnaquq-Baril are) but would probably fall flat if told by outsiders. For example, we see Siaja accidentally start a dump fire and the fallout from her pyrotechnics. It’s not exactly high drama but it does feel specific and silly. Then there’s how Colin makes jokes about his role as the DJ for the town’s only radio station. He knows he doesn’t have much competition and leans into it.

Of course, no place or group is perfect and North of North doesn’t shy away from that aspect either. Siaja and Neevee are still dealing with the lingering effects of her alcoholism. The town is haunted by the horrors of Indian schools with surviving elders still bearing the scars. And of course, there’s danger in the terrain and the economy it affords, from freezing waters to hunting accidents.

Altogether, these elements swirl into a thoughtful comedy that normalizes the Inuk perspective as it fervently shows that women like Siaja deserve to have their stories – their messy, heartfelt, complicated humanities – told and celebrated.

All eight episodes of North of North are streaming on Netflix now.