 |
Celina Kalluk | |
|---|---|
| Born | Resolute, Nunavut, Canada |
| Occupation | Throat Singer Children's Fiction Writer Educator |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Notable works | |
| Children | Jazlin, Aulaja, Saima, Ramata [1] |
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.
Having been born and raised in remote hamlet of Resolute (sometimes given as Resolute Bay), in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of north-eastern Nunavut, Kalluk's works have promoted Inuit culture and heritage in Canada and beyond. As an educator, she serves as the Inuktitut Language Specialist and Cultural Arts teacher, supporting students in grades 7 through 12, at the Qarmartalik School in Resolute. [2]
Tanya Tagaq, notable Inuk throat-singer, referred to Kalluk as her "beautiful cousin." (In Indigenous cultures throughout Canada, a cousin need not be a blood relative, and often refers to a close friendship or relationship.) Kalluk's throat-singing was featured in a documentary, The People Behind the Inukshuk , produced by the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, and she created music for the 2018 theatrical film Tia and Piujuq .
Kalluk's debut book, Sweetest Kulu , illustrated by Alexandria Neonakis, [3] is available in English, French, Swedish, Greenlandic, and Inuktitut. The Inuktitut edition has been published twice, in both Roman characters and Inuktitut syllabics. [4] The book was first published in 2014. It features a poem for a newborn baby, Kulu; "Kulu" is a term of endearment for babies and young children in Inuktitut. Kulu is blessed with the animals of the Arctic. The book emphasizes traditional Inuit values of care and stewardship for nature, respect for animals, and connection to the Arctic land.
Sweetest Kulu received several awards upon publication. It was named Huffington Post's Best Bedtime Book of 2014 [5] and won an award from the Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers for the Best Picture Book in 2015. [6] and was a United States Boar on Books Outstanding International Book. [7]
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.
Susan Aglukark,, is a Canadian singer whose blend of Inuit folk music traditions with country and pop songwriting has made her a major recording star in Canada. Her most successful song/single is "O Siem", which reached No. 1 on the Canadian country and adult contemporary charts in 1995. Overall, she has released seven studio albums and has won three Juno Awards.
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.
Resolute or Resolute Bay is an Inuit hamlet on Cornwallis Island in Nunavut, Canada. It is situated at the northern end of Resolute Bay and the Northwest Passage and is part of the Qikiqtaaluk Region.
Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit is an Inuktitut phrase that is often translated as "Inuit traditional knowledge", "Inuit traditional institutions" or even "Inuit traditional technology". It can also be abbreviated as "IQ". It comes from the verb root "qaujima-" meaning "to know" and can be literally translated to "that which has long been known by Inuit".
Jose Kusugak was an Inuk politician from Repulse Bay, Northwest Territories, Canada. He is an activist for Inuit rights, language and culture.
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.
Madeleine Allakariallak is a Canadian Inuit musician and television journalist. Formerly a member of the Inuit throat singing duo Tudjaat, from 2005 to 2007 she was also the host of the weekly newsmagazine series APTN National News Contact on the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network.
Inuit are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples traditionally inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of North America, including Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, Yukon (traditionally), Alaska, and Chukotsky District of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia. Inuit languages are part of the Eskimo–Aleut languages, also known as Inuit-Yupik-Unangan, and also as Eskaleut. Inuit Sign Language is a critically endangered language isolate used in Nunavut.
The High Arctic relocation took place during the Cold War in the 1950s, when 92 Inuit were moved by the Government of Canada under Liberal Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent to the High Arctic.
Rachel Attituq Qitsualik-Tinsley is a Canadian writer. She was a winner of the Burt Award for First Nations, Métis and Inuit Literature in 2015 for Skraelings, which she cowrote with her husband Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley. The book was also a shortlisted finalist for the Governor General's Award for English-language children's literature at the 2014 Governor General's Awards.
Alethea Arnaquq-Baril is an Inuk filmmaker, known for her work on Inuit life and culture. She is the owner of Unikkaat Studios, a production company in Iqaluit, which produces Inuktitut films. She was awarded the Canadian Meritorious Service Cross, in 2017 in recognition of her work as an activist and filmmaker. She currently works part-time at the Qanak Collective, a social project which supports Inuit empowerment initiatives.
The Jerry Cans are a band from Iqaluit, Nunavut who combine traditional Inuit throat singing with folk music and country rock. Their music is largely written in Inuktitut, the indigenous language of the Inuit, with lyrics which "reflect the challenges and beauty of life in the Far North". Their 2016 album, Inuusiq/Life, was released on Aakuluk Music, Nunavut's first record label, which the band's members established in 2016 "to support Inuit and Indigenous musicians".
Mitiarjuk Attasie Nappaaluk was an Inuk author, educator, and sculptor from Kangiqsujuaq in Nunavik, in northern Quebec, Canada. She was noted for writing Sanaaq, one of the first Inuktitut language novels. Nappaaluk translated books into Inuktitut and contributed to an early Inuktitut dictionary. She went on to teach Inuit culture and language in the Nunavik region, authoring a total of 22 books for use in schools. Her soapstone sculptures are held in collections at the Winnipeg Art Gallery, the Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec, the Musée de la Civilisation, and the British Museum.
Markoosie Patsauq was a Canadian Inuk writer from Inukjuak. He is best known for Harpoon of the Hunter, the first published Inuktitut language novel; the novel was written later, but published earlier (1970), than Mitiarjuk Nappaaluk's Sanaaq.
Simonie Michael was a Canadian politician from the eastern Northwest Territories who was the first Inuk elected to a legislature in Canada. Before becoming involved in politics, Michael worked as a carpenter and business owner, and was one of very few translators between Inuktitut and English. He became a prominent member of the Inuit co-operative housing movement and a community activist in Iqaluit, and was appointed to a series of governing bodies, including the precursor to the Iqaluit City Council.
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.
Shina Novalinga is an Inuk social media personality, singer, and activist. She gained fame for posting videos throat singing with her mother on TikTok and Instagram, who has been a professional throat singer for many years. Her love of throat singing came from her mother and wanted to express her culture to those unfamiliar with it, which is how she started to create videos on social media. As of April, 2024 she has over 4 million TikTok followers and 2 million Instagram followers.
Kakiniit are the traditional tattoos of the Inuit of the North American Arctic. The practice is done almost exclusively among women, with women exclusively tattooing other women with the tattoos for various purposes. Men could also receive tattoos but these were often much less extensive than the tattoos a woman would receive. Facial tattoos are individually referred to as tunniit (ᑐᓃᑦ), and would mark an individual's transition to womanhood. The individual tattoos bear unique meaning to Inuit women, with each individual tattoo carrying symbolic meaning. However, in Inuinnaqtun, kakiniq refers to facial tattoos.