This past month has pretty much been full of live music for my partner and I, and on Nov. 6, we were incredibly fortunate to attend a concert by Juno award-winning Inuit artist Elisapie at the lovely and intimate Oakville Place theatre, a few kilometres west of Toronto.
And a beautiful musical experience it was. Elisapie is a superb singer and dancer, accompanied by a truly fabulous backup band, and she put on a wonderful performance. Many of the songs were from her recent album Inuktitut in which Elisapie re-imagines a selection of terrific pop songs in her native language. Imagine Blondie’s Heart of Glass sung in Inuktitut. It’s at once familiar and beautiful, but you are transported to Arctic landscapes and cultures with this ancient tongue.
Elisapie was born and raised in Salluit, a village in Nunavik, the Inuit homelands of Northern Québec. On the shore of Hudson Strait, near Ungava Bay, the only way to reach the village is by sea or by air. No roads go there. My partner and I, while on an Adventure Canada ship expedition last summer, were able to visit Salluit and experienced wonderful hospitality from the people there. We tasted country food – arctic char, moose meat, seal, walrus and caribou – that has sustained the Inuit people since time immemorial. We were treated to musical performances – drumming and throat singing – as well as modern rock and roll. And we were touched and delighted by the art the community makes – clothing and jewellery from sealskin, bone, tusks and more. Stone carvings by local sculptors were in evidence everywhere we went.
Making music came naturally to Elisapie as she was growing up in Salluit. Her uncle George Kakayuk performed with the rock band Sugluk in the 1970s and often invited Elisapie onto the stage to sing with the band. And her mom encouraged her to sing for the local radio station. She was a natural performer, and every stage loved her.
Elisapie grew up with the music of Metallica, Cyndi Lauper, Fleetwood Mac, Pink Floyd, Blondie, Led Zeppelin and Neil Young and knew instinctively that music made life worth living for everyone in that isolated northern community.
As an adult, Elisapie’s music morphed into a new phase. No longer was she content to cover others’ songs in English, she translated them into Inuktitut and told her own stories through writing songs in her language. Finally, she was creating music that was relevant for the people of her community, most of whom, especially the elders, understood little English. Many of the song lyrics spoke to the generational trauma suffered by the Inuit, as well as to personal tragedies, including suicides, in her own family.
Elisapie also understood the importance of incorporating throat singing – keeping ancient traditions alive while shepherding the community into the 21st century – and has brought that art form into her indie-rock approach. She’s also welcomed some of the finest musicians from the folk and indie community of Montreal into her current band, combining tradition with modernity.
The need to dance is very evident in Elisapie’s show, too. And her fashion sense is hugely Inuk influenced. At the Oakville concert, we saw an outfit with floor-sweeping fringes that moved and swirled with every step. The colour was bronze with a reflectivity that echoed all of the colourful laser lights that illuminated the performance. Elisapie completely embraces fashion by contemporary Inuit designers and jewellers, and her look has become a huge part of the concert experience for her audiences.
During the last song of the evening, Elisapie invited audience members onto the stage to join her for a dance party. We became immersed in the language and rhythms and revelled in the joy of the movement in this music.
Since the release of Inuktitut in 2023, Elisapie has entered a new realm. Her music is going beyond, out into the world, where she finds herself a welcome ambassador for Inuit culture, celebrating Inuit arts, fashion and the power of Inuit women. You come away from her show feeling the strength of the women who enabled families to survive in a harsh landscape for thousands of years.
There are many tour dates on Elisapie’s schedule. Treat yourself. Go to a show, buy the CD and immerse yourself.
