Tanya Tagaq in Concert with Nanook of the North

 ᑕᕐᕆᔭᒐᒃᓴᓗᒃᑕᑦ:
 Tanya Tagaq from Cambridge Bay, Nunavut

My first introduction to katajjaq (Inuit throat singing) was when I watched the film Atanarjuat (The Fast Runner).  For anyone who is not familiar with throat singing, it is traditionally performed by two women who stand face to face close enough so that their lips are almost touching.  They then use each other's mouths to resonate through inhalation and exhalation, reacting or "reflexing" to each other rhythmically.  Tanya has her own style where she sings alone and has in the past worked with artist's like Bjork and the Kronos Quartet.

Nanook of the North is Robert Flaherty's epochal (semi-) documentary of an Inuk family's survival in the harsh Canadian Arctic wilderness and is perhaps one of the most famous films ever made about Indigenous people.  I remember watching it as a child, without the understanding of how cold it must have actually been.  Tanya mentioned before her performance that the children of Nunavut are required to go to school unless it gets below -65, in which case they are allowed to stay home.   She mentioned that she did not want to hear anyone complaining about the cold!

Before the film started, the lights went out and Tanya, Jean Martin (percussion) and Jesse Zubot (violin) slowly began to perform.  At first I wanted to close my eyes and listen without any distractions, but then Nanook of the North began to play on a large screen behind them.  I was quickly sucked into the story line, and I almost forgot that Tanya was singing to a silent film.  She made a lot of different noises, and at times I could hear the wind whistling over the ice, or the waves crashing, and especially the animals.  She was able to communicate that the animals in the film where also trying to survive.  There was a scene where Nanook was hunting walrus, and the battle between Nanook and the walrus was my favorite part (pictured above) of the performance because I felt a loss for the walrus's family, but a gain for Nanook's family.  It was a stark reminder of what survival actually meant before we could waltz into a grocery store and purchase what we needed.  Tanya is so talented that she is able to provide a connection or bridge to her people through her singing, and it is something that will stand out in my mind for a very long time.  Afterward I started to wonder about the family in the film.  What had ever become of them?

Full performance of Nanook of the North with Jean Martin (percussion) and Jesse Zubot (violin) 

From left to right, Laura Ortman and friend, Marissa Corwin 

After the show I got to catch up a little bit with Laura Ortman, who will be performing over the next few weeks.  I have never seen Laura perform, so I am very excited to finally get the opportunity.  Stay tuned!  

This is the National Museum of the American Indian nestled between other buildings in the Financial District at One Bowling Green, New York.  I just realized that NMAI is a very old building, and was built around 20 years (1901) before Nanook of the North was filmed.  The Customs House was originally for the duty collection operations for the port of New York.  

Here is more information about other works by Tanya Tagaq:

http://www.innerviews.org/inner/tagaq.html

More katajjaq:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8QuNdfb-Yw

All pictures by Skaruianewah Logan