Abstract This research-creation project features auteur animation in an interactive, non- linear database idiom exploring the theme of Inuit translocation in order to expand the genre of animated documentary. Premised on the engaging aesthetic sensibility of auteur animation, and the open-ended narrative possibilities of the authoring software, Korsakow, this experimental hybrid media work is presented as a viable alternative to the discourse of the indexical image in documentary filmmaking. The creative research & development process associated with auteur animation is implemented as visual autoethnography in a non-linear database documentary entitled, Living on the Land. Witnessed through the subjective, conscious experience of a citizen- researcher, past memories and current observations are invoked as narrative strands that intimate an underlying context of colonial legacy and reflect on limitations within our social imaginary that impact rural Inuit who migrate to southern urban centers, particularly, Montreal.