The Sound of the Inuit

Etulu was so Rock n Roll. With his rough style and the way he sings, Etulu doesn't sugarcoat anything. The way he tells his stories reminds me a little of Johnny Cash.  "You were once an Inuit, a strong being, what happened to you?", he says in "Qimusipakkaluaravit". Etulu asks what remains of our roots, of the once fearless people of the hunters who defied all adversity with their dogsleds. Where has our courage and bravery gone?

Etulu Etidloie “Qimusipakkaluaravit”, 1978, reissued 2023

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With his special country style and his stories about the Inuit and the joys of life, Charlie Adams and his band Sikumiut represented our people on the world stage of pop. This song, which is named after the band, is about young people in the so-called "residential schools", Christian boarding schools, indigenous children in Canada were sent to in order to separate them from their families and their culture, and where many were brutally abused and died. The young people found some solace in rock 'n' roll. They used to get together, have parties and play rock n roll. It's a light-hearted, fun song: "We're gonna get together and have a party, come on everybody, it's time!"

Sikumiut – “Sikumiut”, early 1970s, reissued 2016

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My uncle George Kakayuk was the lead singer of Sugluk, a rock band from Salluit, Québec, and as a young girl I was even allowed on stage with them. In "Ajuinnarasuarsunga", a love song without any poetry, my uncle's despair is palpable. He talks about how he, the poor soul, has nothing now that his love is gone. But even though she has left him, the connection remains. For all its sadness, I also find the song very beautiful, because Inuit men generally don't show their vulnerability. So it's about an Inuk wanting to say how he really feels.

Sugluk – “Ajuinnarasuarsunga”, 1975, reissued 2016

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Pamuya, founded in 1995 in Anchorage, Alaska, wonderfully combine traditional Inuit sounds and songs with elements of funk, soul, jazz and gospe and they are great performers. Some of their lyrics deal with myths, such as stories about animals, eagles, ravens, killer whales and wolves, with which various clans identify. They sing in English and in a dialect that I don't understand. They are often very old forms of Alaskan Inuit songs; in addition to guitar, keyboard and drums, they use traditional instruments such as the Cauyaq drum.

Pamyua – Seal Hunt (Version A) 2012

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I really discovered Rasmus Lyberth this year. I have been to Greenland many times and have only now realized that he is not only a singer, but also a prominent actor and poet, a multi-talent, something like the Leonard Cohen of Greenland. I am moved by the way he sings about his connection and love for his homeland in an elegiac way, sometimes with a jazz band, sometimes in a pop song style. I love his sensual passionate voice.

Rasmus Lyberth – “Asanaqigavit”/“Du er Så Kærlig”, 2006

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Sume, a sensation in the 1970s, are probably the best-known rock band in Greenland and also the most politically committed on the island, which is self-governing but belongs to Denmark. there was a strong danish influence to dominate the Inuit. When Some use Inuit motifs, they exemplify the desire of many Greenlanders to preserve their cultural and linguistic independence.  "Spring is coming", it says in "Upernaaq", "it's getting warmer, I know it's getting better, things are getting better, I know it. There is the sun alone in the sky I'll be there from now on.”

Sume – “Upernaaq” („Spring“)  1973, on CD 1988

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