Becky Han | |
---|---|
Origin | Arctic Bay, Nunavut |
Genres | Acoustic Inuktitut music |
Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter |
Years active | 2006-present [1] |
Becky Han is an Inuk Canadian singer and songwriter, noted for composing original acoustic music in Inuktitut.
Han is originally from Arctic Bay, Nunavut. [1] She first posted videos online as a way to continue sharing her music with her parents after she moved from Nunavut to Brandon, Manitoba, which led to a substantial online following. [1] Han has discussed two motivations for writing and sharing original music in her native language of Inuktitut: to help keep the language alive, and to feel closer to the community she grew up in. [1] Han has built her music career while also working as a stay-at-home mother. [2]
Han won both first and second place in the Nunavut Department of Culture and Heritage's 2016 Qilaut Inuktut children's songwriting contest. [1] One of her songs, "786", won first place, and another of her songs, "Qaariaq", won second place; both songs were co-written with her sister, Tracy May. [3] Han and May's song "6-muaqpat" won second place in the 2019 Qilaut contest, and their song "Piqannarijaq" won fifth place that year. [4] Han had previously placed eighth in the 2015 contest with a song that she co-wrote with Melissa Reid. [5]
In March 2017, Han opened for Tanya Tagaq in Winnipeg during Tagaq's tour. [1] [6] [7] [8] In a 2017 BBC broadcast in which Tagaq played an hour of her favourite music, she included Han's single "Guutiga" among the 15 tracks she selected. [9]
Also in 2017, Han's single "786" was featured by Up Here Magazine in a Nunavut Music Week list of Inuktitut music. [10]
In 2018, Han won first place in the Qikiqtani Inuit Association's contest for the best original song or poem in Inuktitut. [8] The title of Han's winning entry was "Nagligigakkit" (which translates to "because I love you"). [7] She placed third in the 2019 QIA contest. [11]
In 2021, Han published The Bee, a picture book based on her award-winning song "Qaariaq". [12]
The Inuit languages are a closely related group of indigenous American languages traditionally spoken across the North American Arctic and the adjacent subarctic regions as far south as Labrador. The Inuit languages are one of the two branches of the Eskimoan language family, the other being the Yupik languages, which are spoken in Alaska and the Russian Far East. Most Inuit people live in one of three countries: Greenland, a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark; Canada, specifically in Nunavut, the Inuvialuit Settlement Region of the Northwest Territories, the Nunavik region of Quebec, and the Nunatsiavut and NunatuKavut regions of Labrador; and the United States, specifically in northern and western Alaska.
Inuit throat singing, or katajjaq, is a distinct type of throat singing uniquely found among the Inuit. It is a form of musical performance, traditionally consisting of two women who sing duets in a close face-to-face formation with no instrumental accompaniment, in an entertaining contest to see who can outlast the other; however, one of the genre's most famous practitioners, Tanya Tagaq, performs as a solo artist. Several groups, including Tudjaat, The Jerry Cans, Quantum Tangle and Silla + Rise, also now blend traditional throat singing with mainstream musical genres such as pop, folk, rock and dance music.
Inuktitut syllabics is an abugida-type writing system used in Canada by the Inuktitut-speaking Inuit of the territory of Nunavut and the Nunavik and Nunatsiavut regions of Quebec and Labrador, respectively. In 1976, the Language Commission of the Inuit Cultural Institute made it the co-official script for the Inuit languages, along with the Latin script.
Traditional Inuit music, the music of the Inuit, Yupik, and Iñupiat, has been based on drums used in dance music as far back as can be known, and a vocal style called katajjaq has become of interest in Canada and abroad.
Inuktitut, also known as Eastern Canadian Inuktitut, is one of the principal Inuit languages of Canada. It is spoken in all areas north of the North American tree line, including parts of the provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec, to some extent in northeastern Manitoba as well as the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. It is one of the aboriginal languages written with Canadian Aboriginal syllabics.
Tanya Tagaq, also credited as Tagaq, is a Canadian Inuk throat singer, songwriter, novelist, actor, and visual artist from Cambridge Bay (Iqaluktuuttiaq), Nunavut, Canada, on the south coast of Victoria Island.
Ann Meekitjuk Hanson was the third commissioner of Nunavut. She served from April 21, 2005, until April 10, 2010. Hanson, like all Inuit born between the 1940s and the 1970s, was labelled with a disc number by the Government of Canada, which, in her case was E7-121.
Lancaster Sound is a body of water in the Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. It is located between Devon Island and Baffin Island, forming the eastern entrance to the Parry Channel and the Northwest Passage. East of the sound lies Baffin Bay; to the west lies Viscount Melville Sound. Further west a traveller would enter the M'Clure Strait before heading into the Arctic Ocean.
Nunavut is the largest and northernmost territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the Nunavut Act and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act, which provided this territory to the Inuit for independent government. The boundaries had been drawn in 1993. The creation of Nunavut resulted in the first major change to Canada's political map in half a century since the province of Newfoundland was admitted in 1949.
Inuit Nunangat refers to the land, water, and ice of the homeland of Inuit in Canada. This Arctic homeland consists of four northern Canadian regions called the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, the territory Nunavut (ᓄᓇᕗᑦ), Nunavik (ᓄᓇᕕᒃ) in northern Quebec, and Nunatsiavut of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Kivalliq, also known as Kivallirmiutut, Caribou Eskimo, or formerly as Keewatin, is a dialect of Eastern Canadian Inuktitut which is spoken along the northwestern shores of Hudson Bay in Nunavut.
Pauloosie Keyootak is a Canadian Inuk politician from Broughton Island, Northwest Territories, now Qikiqtarjuaq, Nunavut. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut, representing the electoral district of Uqqummiut, in a by-election on February 9, 2015. He won the by-election over Niore Iqalukjuak, who had been the second-place candidate behind Samuel Nuqingaq in the 2013 election, and former MLA James Arreak.
Lucy Tulugarjuk is an Inuit actress, throat singer, and director. She is executive director for the Nunavut Independent Television Network.
Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory or Laakkuluk, is a Kalaaleq performance artist, spoken word poet, actor, storyteller and writer based in Iqaluit, Nunavut. She is known for performing uaajeerneq, a Greenlandic mask dance that involves storytelling and centers three elements: fear, humour and sexuality. Bathory describes uaajeerneq as both a political and cultural act and an idiosyncratic art form.
Kelly Fraser was a Canadian Inuk pop singer and songwriter, whose second album, Sedna, received a Juno Award nomination for Indigenous Music Album of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2018.
Celina Kalluk is a Canadian Inuk artist. She creates and performs in several mediums, notably the tradition of Inuit throat singing. In addition to her work as a musician, Kalluk has also worked as an actress, educator, and a children's author, publishing her debut work in 2014.
Colleen Aasiva Nakashuk, better known by her stage name Aasiva, is a Canadian Inuk singer-songwriter and educator. Her style of indie folk music features the ukulele, Inuktitut lyrics, and Inuit throat singing.
Joshua Haulli is a Canadian singer-songwriter from Igloolik, Nunavut, who released his debut album Aqqut in 2019. He received three Canadian Folk Music Award nominations at the 15th Canadian Folk Music Awards, for Traditional Singer of the Year, Indigenous Songwriter of the Year and Young Performer of the Year, winning the award for Young Performer of the Year.
Elisapee Ootoova was an Inuit elder who preserved and promoted Inuit traditional knowledge.