Charlie Panigoniak | |
---|---|
Born | near Chesterfield Inlet, Northwest Territories | 7 March 1946
Died | 6 March 2019 72) Rankin Inlet, Nunavut | (aged
Genres | Inuit |
Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter, guitarist |
Charlie Panigoniak ONu (ᓵᓕ ᐸᓂᒍᓂᐊᖅ, 7 March 1946 – 6 March 2019), born in Chesterfield Inlet, Northwest Territories in what is now Nunavut, Canada, was an Inuk singer-songwriter and guitarist whose albums reflect on northern life. [1]
He began recording in the early 1970s, including projects for broadcaster CBC Northern Service. His Inuktitut language rendition of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" (ᕈᑕᒥ ᑐᒃᑐᒐᖃᓚᐅᓂᐳᖅ, Rutami tuktugaqalaunipuq) with Lorna Tasseor was featured on the 1996 compilation A Northern Christmas (ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐ ᖁᕕᐊᓱᒡᕕᒃ, Ukiuqtaqtu quviasugvik).
Charlie Panigoniak was born on 7 March 1946 in the town of Chesterfield Inlet, Northwest Territories. By the time he was 30, he was already a prominent performer of Inuit music in many different Inuit communities around what is now Nunavut. Panigoniak is an interesting artist because he has taken mainstream music and songs and covered them using his own unique style of music. Perhaps the most well known example of this is Panigoniak's cover of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", a popular children's Christmas song. Panigoniak has collaborated with his partner Lorna Tasseor for the past 30 years. He is not only the lead singer and song writer but also plays guitar and keyboard with Tasseor as an accompanying singer.
Panigoniak was born in the north of Canada. This meant that he was cut off from the majority of the mainstream cultural happenings in Canada and would have been heavily influenced by the traditions of his community. In the late 1950s the Canadian government decided to settle starving inland Inuit in a variety of coastal communities. With these new immigrants to the area came new thoughts and ideas and, perhaps, a potential to hear mainstream Canadian music.
Panigoniak's father gave him his first guitar when the musician was 21. This guitar was made from a tin can. It allowed Panigoniak to become a "skillful manipulator of the country music idiom". [2] In 1967, Panigoniak had to travel to Brandon, Manitoba to receive treatment for tuberculosis. This excursion to a big city not only opened the musician's eyes to new forms of music. It also gave him the opportunity to buy his first real guitar. Since getting that guitar Panigoniak has developed a country folk style of music. His songs often concern his friends, family and everyday occurrences and events from his life. These songs are written in the Inuktitut language. This shows how important traditions and his northern home are to Panigoniak.
While playing at Rankin Inlet, Northwest Territories in 1973 Panigoniak was overheard by Doug Ward. Ward was a producer with CBC and liked Panigoniak's sound so much that he arranged for a recording session in Toronto during the following summer. Panigoniak went on to record 3 records for the CBC Northern Service. These records include two EPs (11 songs) and the LPs Inuktitut Christmas & Gospel Songs (ᖁᕕᐊᓱᒃᕕᒃᓯᐅᑎᑦ ᑐᒃᓯᐊᕈᑎᓪᓗ), My Seasons (ᐱᐅᓯᑲ) and Just for Kids (ᓱᕈᓯᑯᓗᖕᓄᑦ). [1] The children's album was recorded with Tasseor, Panigoniak's "frequent partner" from this point on. This album shows Panigoniak's love of singing for children. Panigoniak has also made two CBC broadcast EPs. [1]
In 2012, he was awarded the territory's highest honour, the Order of Nunavut, along with artist Kenojuak Ashevak and they were both named "ambassadors for our territory and its people". The honour "acknowledges achievement and contribution to the territory, which has either a cultural, social, or economic significance". [3]
Panigoniak died 6 March 2019 at his home in Rankin Inlet, one day prior to his 73rd birthday. [4] [5]
Rankin Inlet is an Inuit hamlet on the Kudlulik Peninsula in Nunavut, Canada. It is the largest hamlet and second-largest settlement in Nunavut after the territorial capital, Iqaluit. Rankin Inlet is the regional centre for the Kivalliq Region.
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.
Willie Adams is a Canadian Inuit politician who was a member of the Senate of Canada from 1977 to 2009.
Kenojuak Ashevak, was a Canadian Inuk artist. She was born on October 3, 1927 at Camp Kerrasak on southern Baffin Island, and died on January 8, 2013 in Cape Dorset, Nunavut. Known primarily for her drawings as a graphic artist, she also had a diverse artistic experience, making sculpture and engraving and working with textiles and also on stained glass. She is celebrated as a leading figure of modern Inuit art and one of Canada's preeminent artists and cultural icons. Part of a pioneering generation of Arctic creators, her career spanned more than five decades. She made graphic art, drawings and prints in stone cut, lithography and etching, beloved by the public, museums and collectors alike. Kenojuak has mainly painted animals in fantastical, brightly-colored aspects, but also landscapes and scenes of everyday life, in a desire to represent them in a unique aesthetic, making them beautiful by her own standards, and conveying a real spirit of happiness and positivity. She has an intuitive and sensitive way of working : she begins her works without having a clear idea of the final result, letting herself be guided by her intuition and her own perception of aestheticism through colors and shapes. She painted throughout her life, never ceasing to seek out new techniques to renew her artistic creation. At the beginning of her life, her fantastical, seemingly simple works became more complex over time, taking on a more technical aspect. At the end of her life, the artist returned to simpler, more singular forms and even brighter colors.
Kinngait, known as Cape Dorset until 27 February 2020, is an Inuit hamlet located on Dorset Island near Foxe Peninsula at the southern tip of Baffin Island in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada.
Peter Freuchen K. Ittinuar is a Canadian politician. He was the first Inuk in Canada to be elected as an MP, and represented the electoral district of Nunatsiaq in the House of Commons of Canada from 1979 to 1984.
Jose Kusugak was an Inuk politician from Repulse Bay, Northwest Territories, Canada. He was 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 self-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.
Disc numbers were used by the Government of Canada in lieu of surnames for Inuit. They were similar to dog tags.
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.
Lorne Kusugak is a Canadian politician who is the member of the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut for the electoral district of Rankin Inlet South. Prior to becoming an MLA, Kusugak was the mayor of Rankin Inlet. Kusugak served as the Nunavut Minister for Community and Government Services, Minister for Energy and the Minister responsible for the Qulliq Energy Corporation.
Over the course of centuries, many Indigenous Canadians have played a critical role in shaping the history of Canada. From art and music, to law and government, to sports and war; Indigenous customs and culture have had a strong influences on defining Canadian culture. The Indspire Awards are the annual awards presented by Indspire, formerly the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation. The awards were first established in 1993 in conjunction with the United Nations declaring the 1990s "International Decade of the World's Indigenous peoples". June 21 is Canada's National Aboriginal Day, in recognition of the cultural contributions made by Canada's indigenous population. The day was first celebrated in 1996 following Governor General of Canada Roméo LeBlanc's proclamation.
Inuit Nunangat, formerly Inuit Nunaat, 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.
The Order of Nunavut is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian territory of Nunavut. Instituted in 2010 it is the highest honour which can be bestowed by the Government of Nunavut. It is intended to honour current and former residents of the territory.
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".
Timootee "Tim" Pitsiulak was an Inuk artist and hunter based in Nunavut, Canada, best known for his large coloured-pencil drawings of Arctic scenery, wildlife, and Inuit culture.
The West Baffin Eskimo Cooperative, also known as the Kinngait Co-operative is an Inuit co-operative in Kinngait, Nunavut best known for its activities in buying, producing and selling Inuit artworks. The co-operative is part of Arctic Co-operatives Limited, a group of locally owned businesses that provide fundamental services in the Canadian north. The co-operative sets prices for the sale of its member's works, pays the artists in advance and shares its profits with its members.
Terry Uyarak is an Inuk singer-songwriter from Igloolik, Nunavut, Canada, whose debut album Nunarjua Isulinginniani was released in 2020.