Susan Aglukark celebrates 30 years of ‘This Child’ with national tour

“O Siem, we are all family / O Siem, we’re all the same.”

Thirty years after those words first echoed across Canada’s airwaves, Susan Aglukark is taking a moment to reflect and celebrate how they helped make history.

This Child, which featured the song O Siem, made her the first Inuk artist to have a top-10 hit in Canada.

Now Aglukark is embarking on a 34-stop anniversary tour across Canada starting Feb. 28 at the Opera House in Gravenhurst, Ont.

“I’m really excited about sharing the journey, who I was 30 years ago and who I am today,” Aglukark said in an interview.

Released in January 1995, three years after her debut album Arctic Rose, This Child marked a turning point in her career.

“I remember being asked what message I wanted to portray in both albums, and it was, ‘Learn to be yourself,’” she said.

Aglukark said the album was the “beginning of that self-discovery journey,” in realizing her creativity as a singer, songwriter and performer.

The anniversary tour setlist will feature songs from This Child, including the title track, O Siem, Hina Na Ho (Celebration), and Breakin’ Down.

The tour will be a reflection on Aglukark’s early years, which she describes as a time of deep emotional growth.

“Between the release of Arctic Rose in 1992 and then going into the follow-up album to This Child, which was Unsung Heroes in 2000, was this really critical time for me in terms of Ilirasuk — living in a state of emotional fear.”

Aglukark’s early career and personal challenges were influenced by her decision to leave her home in Rankin Inlet and move to Ottawa, where she worked to rebuild her life after experiencing abuse.

“The context of those songs came from being in a state of emotional fear while also finding joy and finding a way to see the incredible opportunity I was living,” she said.

When the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls held its Rankin Inlet hearing in 2018, Aglukark provided testimony in which she publicly named her abuser.

As she looks back, she acknowledges the role music played in her healing.

“The majority of my fan base … were people who could relate to those stories — abuse and suicide being key in those writings. I had to keep honouring those fans in my songwriting journey.”

Her tour will also feature Angela Amarualik, a rising Inuk singer from Igloolik.

“I came across Angela’s music during the [COVID-19] pandemic, and I was so rooting for her. I’m always watching for those artists that come out and take those first initial steps in their careers, because it is a very tough business,” Aglukark said.

After the Feb. 28 launch in Gravenhurst, the tour continues through Ontario cities such as Ottawa, Oakville and Sarnia before heading west to Saskatchewan and Alberta.

Aglukark will continue her celebration in late April in British Columbia. The final stretch of the tour will see her visit several communities across Newfoundland and Labrador as well as Nova Scotia, concluding in Summerside, P.E.I., on May 25.

The four-time Juno winner and officer of the Order of Canada won’t perform in the North on this tour, but on Feb. 1 she played a free concert in Arviat.

Aglukark is also writing her memoir.

“I’m very close to 60. I’m ready to tell that story,” she said.

“When I understood what I was born into in terms of intergenerational trauma, that was a huge piece of calm in my body that I settled into. And so I wanted to share that.”

Reflecting on her own life, she said: “Thirty years ago, I had no choice but to leave and start over. I couldn’t live safely in a community where my abuser still resided. What I left behind wasn’t a community, it was an environment of crisis. That’s why I feel I’m ready to tell my story now.”

Aglukark said her memoir will recount her past and explore the tools and resources that helped her heal over time.

She said she feels immense gratitude for the support she’s received so far in the days leading up to the tour.

“I’m really excited to reconnect with the fan base I first encountered in my early years. It’s humbling to see so many continue to respond,” Aglukark said.

“What I hope people leave the concert with is knowing that we can recover and heal enough to discover and begin to live our best lives, whatever those best lives are.”