Conversations: Music within Inuit Cultures and Languages

I’m mother of three adult children, in a common law relation and now have a blended family of three more adult children and fourteen grandchildren. I believe it is my job to learn and pass onto my children and grandchildren. My common law husband and I have been learning together and together we teach.

I have made Cambridge Bay my home for the past twenty-one years. Since moving here I have enjoyed learning to lead sing the songs, therefore learning to understand the stories and the terms used in song creation. As I understand I learn more about my ancestors life and how this becomes our foundation of strength and resilience, a beginning to continue to build on in our lives journey as strong Inuinnait.

My life’s goal is to create a strong foundation so my grandchildren’s children and so forth have a healthier, stronger, thriving place to live in. Begin with what we have and build on it.

I love to be on the land travelling and camping at my ancestral campsites where we harvest our food, preparing delicacies and making our clothing. For my side hobbies I love to paint, carve jewelry pieces and work with beads, and most of all I love to transcribe recorded drum dance songs and chat with knowledge holders.

Learn more about Julia and her work here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUTyacY7KP0

https://nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/cambridge-bay-woman-honoured-for-work-revitalizing-inuit-culture/

Photo: Courtesy of Julia Ogina © Julia Ogina

Source: Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center in Alaska

Contributor: Dawn Biddison

Tiffany Ayalik is from Yellowknife, NT and is Inuit from the Kugluktuk region. It was in the North, listening to stories from her elders, that she discovered her love of storytelling, and the powerful change that hearing a story can bring about. After receiving her Diploma in Acting from Red Deer College, she continued her studies at the University of Alberta, and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting. Tiffany travels across Canada and has performed in Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Finland and Europe sharing her blend of story, song, movement, and improvisation.

Tiffany hosts a TV show called “Wild Kitchen” where she meets interesting people who are closely connected to the land and the food they harvest. “Wild Kitchen” is enjoyed across the North and in 47 million homes in the US on First Nations Experience (FNX). As a host, she shares her Inuit perspective and land use teachings with her guests as they collaborate on harvesting and cooking a meal. As a film actor, Tiffany’s work can be seen at many international film festivals. In Canada you can see her as Daphne in CBC’s “A Christmas Fury” the spin-off of cult classic “Hatching Matching and Dispatching” and on CBC’s “Little Dog”. Tiffany writes for film, TV and theatre and was a musical director and sketch writer for Mary Walsh’s touring comedy show, “Canada, it’s Complicated.”

She produces film and media with longtime collaborator Caroline Cox and their company Copper Quartz Media based out of Yellowknife, NT. When she isn’t touring, performing or composing, Tiffany enjoys teaching and has been guest faculty at The Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity and working with musicians, dancers and storytellers. Tiffany is a Juno Award winner and often collaborates with sister, Inuksuk Mackay in their katajjaq (Inuit throat singing) band, PIQSIQ. Catch her next on the animated series, “Molly of Denali” on PBS and CBC.

Learn more about Tiffany and her work here:

https://www.copperquartz.com/

https://piqsiq.com/index.html

Photo: Courtesy of Tiffany Ayalik © Tiffany Ayalik

Source: Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center in Alaska

Contributor: Dawn Biddison Citation Resource Conversations: Music within Inuit Cultures and

Yup’ik singer, dancer and musician Byron Nicholai was born and raised in Toksook Bay, Alaska, whose work is inspired by his Indigenous heritage. He began posting music videos on Facebook for fun at age 14 and released his first album before graduating from high school. Bryon has performed across the U.S. and the Arctic. He also performs with the Toksook Bay Traditional Dancers, who taught him to sing and drum. At the 2016 Cana-I Dance Festival, Byron said, “I’m trying to help our culture grow song by song, dance by dance, and these little kids are into it. While I’m up there and they’re watching, they’re learning the songs, the dances, . . . and I have that feeling of being a good role model. That’s what I’m trying to be.” (Source: Alaska Public Media)

Learn more about James and his work here:

https://www.facebook.com/I.Sing.You.Dance

https://indiancountrytoday.com/archive/must-see-this-16-year-old-singer-from-alaska-is-amazing

Photo: Courtesy of Byron Nicholai © Byron Nicholai

Source: Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center in Alaska

Contributor: Dawn Biddison

James Dommek, Jr. is an Alaska Native musician and audio producer. He has played drums with Alaskan bands The Whipsaws, Pamyua, Meg Mackey Band, Medium Build, Tim Easton as well as Quinn Christopherson. He is a member of the Iñupiaq tribe from the Kotzebue area and the great-grandson of one of the last Iñupiaq story-tellers, Palangun. James has worked in film and audio production for over a decade. In 2013, he scored an Emmy award-winning documentary. He also composed the soundtrack to Frontiers of Change, an award-winning audio art walk in downtown Anchorage that focused on climate change. Additionally, in 2017 he co-created with Anchorage public radio "The RIVR" (Rising Indigenous Voices Radio), an international online radio station that provides a platform for Alaska Native and American Indian singers, songwriters, and musicians.

In October 2019, along with Isaac Kestenbaum and Josephine Holtzman, James released Midnight Sonthrough Audible audio books. The true crime story was immediately #1 on the New York Times Best Sellers list for six weeks straight in the Non Fiction Audiobook category. Midnight Son also won an Online Journalism Award in 2020 for Excellence in Audio Digital Storytelling, Limited Series. James wrote, narrated and scored Midnight Son.

James resides in Eagle River, Alaska where he and his girlfriend, Kelsey, focus on raising their four kids, rooted in Alaska Native culture, foods, and traditions. He enjoys subsistence hunting, fishing, and the Alaskan way of life.

Photo: Courtesy of James Dommek, Jr. © James Dommek, Jr.

Source: Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center in Alaska

Contributor: Dawn Biddison