Herstory

Susan Aglukark was the first Inuk singer to make the Canadian music charts. In 1995, her hit song O Siem topped the country and adult contemporary charts.

 

Born on January 27, 1967, Aglukark was one of 6 children of a Pentecostal minister. She was born in Churchill, Manitoba, but was raised in the Northwest Territories, now Nunavut. Her childhood instilled a love of the North and a love for music by singing in her father’s choir and learning guitar at Bible camp. In a profile for Canadian Geographic, Aglukark reminicses,

 

“More than anything else in the world, I loved looking out into the bay and seeing the white go on forever, feeling the power of that white expanse and its seeming vulnerability and purity. All of these images dance around in my mind when I am writing a song, experimenting with sounds or just simply sitting back listening the band play. All connected.”

 

After high school, Aglukark moved to Ottawa to work as a linguist with the federal government before going to work for an advocacy group, Inuit Tapirisat of Canada, which provided a voice for preserving Inuit heritage. Her time with the agency instilled a deep need to work for the social justice of northern aboriginals.

 

In 1990, while still working for Inuit Tapirisat of Canada, Aglukark met a CBC producer and she recorded her first album and her first music video. By 1993, she was named by Maclean’s magazine as one of Canada’s 100 Leaders to watch for.”

 

Aglukark released nine albums from 1990 to 2013 including her hit album, This Child, which peaked at number one on the Canadian country charts and went triple platinum in Canada. Her music has netted her a numerous awards including Juno Awards for best new artist, best aboriginal recording. She has performed for Queen Elizabeth II, Governor General of Canada Adrienne Clarkson, two Prime Ministers of Canada and Nelson Mandela. Deane Cameron, President of EMI Music stated that “Susan Aglukark is truly one of Canada’s most significant cultural treasures. Apart from being a beautiful singer and powerful songwriter, she provides a significant view to the culture of our northern communities. She is an inspiration to humanity.”

 

Most importantly, Aglukark's music has provided her a platform to be a passionate advocate for the preservation and promotion of the Inuit culture and a tireless supporter for all aboriginals in Canada, but especially northern aboriginal youth. Aglukark, using her celecrity and her own personal history of sexual violence and her struggle with suicidal thoughts, supported northern youth and suicide prevention programs.

 

Her activism led her to work with organizations that support northern communities such as the Arctic Children and Youth Foundation, the RCMP National Alcohol and Drug Awareness Prevention Program and Empowering Our Little Sisters. In 2014, Aglukark founded the Artic Rose Project which raises funds for northern food banks. With shipping costs to Nunavut sky-rocketing, Aglukark said in a recent CTV News piece, “The Arctic Rose initiative is a temporary measure to help ease the high costs of shipping food to Canada's North”. Her advocacy for northern youth extends to her food bank initiative also as she continues, “"We often forget, in the middle of all these crises going on, the children and the youth," she said, adding that 80 per cent of Northerners who use a food bank are under the age of 18.”  

 

In 2008, she was appointed as a Distinguished Scholar in Residence at the University of Alberta where she spent three years developing programs to support aboriginal youth staying in school. She left in 2011, turning down as extension, to return to her music full-time. She wanted to focus on telling the stories of the Inuit. For Aglukark, her music lyrics are “driven by the stories. It’s all about the stories.” as noted on her website.

 

While the lyrics of her most commercially successful song, O Siem, were simple, the song resonated with those marginalized throughout Canadian society, not just aboriginals. O Siem, meaning a joyful greeting for family and loved ones, was “an anthemic call to turn away from racism and prejudice” according to Historica Canada. It called for inclusivity and acceptance, the things that Aglukark has spent her lifetime promoting.

 

“O Siem
We are all family
O Siem
We're all the same
O Siem
The fires of freedom
Dance in the burning flame
Siem o siyeya
All people rich and poor
Siem o siyeya
Those who do and do not know
Siem o siyeya
Take the hand of one close by
Siem o siyeya
Of those who know because they try
And watch the walls come tumbling down”

 

 

References

 

Absolute Lyrics (n.d.) O Siem Retrieved from http://www.absolutelyrics.com/lyrics/view/susan_aglukark/o_siem

 

Canadian Geographic.  (n.d.) In-Depth: Canadian Musicians.  Retrieved from http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/magazine/jf06/indepth/travel_susan_aglukark.asp

 

Elliott, J. (2014, December 17) Acclaimed singer shipping 1000 pounds of food to Nunavut. CTVNews.ca. Retrieved from http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/acclaimed-singer-shipping-1-000-pounds-of-food-to-nunavut-1.2151549

 

First Nations Drum. (2000, December 26) Susan Aglukark – A Leading Voice in Canadian Music. Retrieved from http://www.firstnationsdrum.com/2000/12/susan-aglukark-a-leading-voice-in-canadian-music/

 

Historica Canada (n.d.) Susan Aglukark. Retrieved from http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/susan-aglukark/

 

Leslie, L. (2014, April 12) Susan Aglukark: Between Two Worlds.  Women with Vision. Retrieved from http://womenwithvision.ca/susan-aglukark-between-two-worlds/

 

Political Tunes (2013, February 12) What Does O Siem Mean.Retrieved From https://politicaltunes.wordpress.com/tag/what-does-o-siem-mean/

 

Susan Aglukark (n.d) Susan Aglukark Biography. Retrieved from http://www.susanaglukark.com/bio/