Kangikyoangmiot Drummers and Dancers

FROM A BLENDED COMMUNITY COME BLENDED TRADITIONS AND CULTURE.

With close connections to the Copper Inuit of the Kugluktuk region of Nunavut, Ulukhaktok is home to more than one style of Inuit tradition and drum dance, as Inuit from both the west and central regions of the Arctic call the 400-person community home.

The Kangikyoangmiot Drummers and Dancers represent the central style and traditions of drum dance.

Differing from the western style, here viewers will see the men dancing with the drums along with the women, while the songs last much longer and can be several pages in length. The drums are larger, while the sticks are shorter and stubbier.

Each song is rich in the history of the Copper Inuit, who lived off the land of Prince Albert Sound. Songs range in subject matter, from animals to healing and the seasons, and there are several types of dances. Freestyle dances always follow immediately after a drum song, and the dancer always follows the direction of the sun when dancing with the drum.

More than one person can compose a song, and people can add verses to older pieces. Drum songs come in two parts, with the soft and slow beginning, and then gaining excitement and speed in the main verse.

Traditionally, drum dancing would follow hunts, whether they were successful or not. No part of the animal, from bone marrow to tendons, would be wasted after a successful hunt. The catch would be distributed throughout the community and a celebration would take place.

Sometimes, different camps and hunters would join to celebrate and challenge each other through clothing and songs. The celebrations are always meant to give thankfulness for what they have caught, and the music and movements come from a place of happiness and storytelling.

For Crystal Anne Kuneyuna, the group helps keep her connected to the generations in her family, as she often dances with her aunt Emily Kudlak and great-aunt Agnes Kuptana.

“I have been observing this tradition since I was three years old,” she said. “I only started to drum dance in public when I was an adult. I started to drum dance with the Kangikyoangmiot Drummers and Dancers when my uncle Adam Kudlak gave me my first drum.”

Through intermarriage, Copper Inuit and Inuvialuit have combined to build a strong, culturally rich community in Ulukhaktok, where dancers often perform both of their lineages’ style of dances.

TONY ANGNATSIAK POGOTAK ALANAK

I started by watching and having my parents bring me to the drum dances. It carries on our culture. It makes me feel strong.

FRED AKHOK AKOAKSION

It keeps our culture going. It brings out a different kind of inspiration when we start singing and drum dancing. It makes me feel… I can’t describe it. It sends out emotions and brings back strength to keep yourself going and support the family.

TRUDYANNE KAGAK AKOAKSION

When the coffee shop used to be a few houses down, we used to watch our elders drumming and dancing there. That’s when I wanted to join and I started practising the songs in my head. I feel like I’m lifting up from where I was that day and it brings a whole sense of comfort. You can feel the comfort in your mind, body and spirit. It’s good healing to be around your elders, beat the drum and sing the songs of our ancestors from years back. Drum dancing is part of us. It’s how we grew up in our culture and traditional life. I would like to pass it on to our younger generation, for them to carry it on.

EMILY KUDLAK

Drum dancing is important to me because it has old words in Inuinnaqtun that are no longer used. It takes you to a place where Copper Inuit travelled on the land, tells you what was hunted and describes places using what is there. It takes you to a time and place where our ancestors gathered.

MARY KUDLAK

I grew up with the drummers and dancers and song makers. That’s who I learned from. I never went to school for it. I learned the songs from hearing them, from my grandparents and other people. When they got success on their hunt or don’t get any, they make songs out of it. No matter if you don’t get anything when you go out, you’re still happy and go home and tell stories. That’s what the songs come from. Drum dancing is healing. When you go out on the land, when you sing, your ancestors and loved ones are just behind your ear singing with you, you can feel their breath. Our ancestors tell us to be thankful and happy with what we have. When I lost my husband, I was crying and lonely out there, and I said to myself if my mom and my grandmother could make a song, I too could make a song, because that’s what heals me. I’ve got about six verses and one more coming up.

ALICE OMINGMAK

I was hurting inside and when I started dancing, it slowly went away. I kept it up and learned some songs from my dad, and I’d go to every drum dance so I could learn more. Now my arms are not too good anymore, so I don’t drum dance, but I can sing. It eases my mind and helps me a lot.

AGNES KUPTANA

My grandmother was a great drummer, dancer, storyteller and artist. I got to travel and hunt with my grandfather, who was always singing the songs. No matter if it was a blizzard or if he’s making tools or fixing up his sleds or doing other things so they can travel, he’s always singing in the language. It was in my mind all the time hearing these songs and the stories they’d tell us in the evenings, how they’d survive, how they hunted, how there were days they struggled for animals when it was a bad year. It makes you feel so lively. You feel the healing. You feel your ancestors among you because you can feel their presence. People get so happy, and when you’re done, you feel so blessed.