Arctic singers warm southern audiences

­Listen to the recent CD release of Tudjaat and you can hear that the story of the Tudjaat spans time and space, from Resolute Bay to Germany, from the ancient art of throat singing to modern rhythms.

Three years ago Madeline Allakariallak was a high school student in Pond Inlet and a member of the Takijualuk drama group. She had learned ay-ya-ya songs and was working on throat singing for one of the group’s productions.

Then, when Susan Aglukark came to the community in May, 1993, Madeline sang for her.

You might say that’s when she was “discovered.”

Descended from exiles

But to really understand where Tudjaat comes from, you might look at its name, which means “gravel” in Inuktitut, but is also another name for the community of Resolute.

That’s where Madeline Allakariallak’s grandmother arrived over 40 years ago from Port Harrison – now Inukjuak – in Northern Quebec.

Her experience as a High Arctic Exile has deeply influenced Tudjaat’s songs, and Madeline herself.

It was Madeline’s grandmother who taught her how to throat sing.

“You start with certain little sounds, simple sounds, to get your throat to start exercising. And you just keep doing that for a few years until you’re ready to make new and more different sounds,” says Madeline. “At first when I did it, I though it’s too hard, it sounds funny. I’m going to be embarrassed.”

So, she didn’t start again until she began to perform in Pond Inlet.

And when Aglukark heard her and the other singers in the drama group, she wanted them to sing with her.

Recording in Pond Inlet

So, Aglukark and Randall Prescott, who was then Susan’s producer, returned to Pond Inlet to do a recording.

Madeline’s voice stood out among the others, remembers Prescott.

“We took a break and all the kids were fooling around, singing. I was listened through the headphones and heard one voice above the others. This voice was low and rich, totally different sounding,” says Prescott.

He found out that voice belonged to Madeline.

It wasn’t long before Prescott called Madeline to see if she’d like to sing at the “True North” concert in Rankin Inlet in 1994. By then, Madeline knew she needed a throat singing partner.

She called her cousin Phoebe Attagotaaluk, who had also been studying in Pond Inlet, and the group Tudjaat was born.

With Prescott and his associate Jon Park-Wheeler, Madeline began to work on developing her own songs.

Writing about the exile

And that’s how the haunting ballad, called “Kajusita”, “My ship comes in,” about the Arctic exiles experience was written.

“Our final destination reached, they left us standing on the beach…” goes the song.

Telling the story was Madeline’s way of sharing and soothing those hard memories.

“What’s done is done, what’s gone is gone. We must put the past behind, and set a course for better times. When freedom’s lost, nobody ever wins. I can’t wait until my ship comes in…”

“It’s a very tragic story, very painful thing for my grandmother. I’m sorry she had to go through that,” she says. “With this song I wanted to take this pain and change it to strength and walk forward.”

Another song on the CD Tudjaat released in 1995 is a medley of the familiar Southern song “You are my sunshine” and the new “The Land that I come from,” sung in both English and Inuktitut.

And, again, this song by Madeline reflects her grandmother’s experiences in the early 1950’s.

“When they first arrived on Cornwallis Island, they asked “where’s the sun?”,” says Madeline. “And they were waiting and waiting and the days went by, and the months went by. Still no sun. And that scared them. Today it makes her laugh every time she hears this song. She laughs so hard because she couldn’t find the sun and they didn’t know where it went. She can think in a happy way about that now.”

Promoting Inuit culture

And that’s what Madeline wants to do with her music, be positive through her songs. She also wants to promote Inuit culture.

“I prefer to wear an amautik because it shows people that we are Inuit, not just through our music. It adds more to our music. Just to look at us, you can see we’re Inuit and our music just adds to that. They’re beautiful, too, what our ancestors wore!”

Since that first nationally-televised performance on CBC television’s special “True North” concert, Tudjaat has sung again at the “True North” concerts, in Yellowknife, in Ottawa, accompanied singer Tom Jackson on a whirlwind tour of Germany and done back up for Robbie Robertson.

Tudjaat recently recorded songs for another CD. And if all that wasn’t enough, Tudjaat will be singing for Queen Elizabeth in Ottawa on July 1. The group’s first Southern tour will then take them to Toronto and Montreal.

Video played often

Tudjaat’s video is regularly played on specialty music video channels.

But what Tudjaat hasn’t done is tour the North.

“Everybody up here knows who we are, what we do. We take that elsewhere where people don’t know who we are and what we do. They don’t know we don’t live in igloos anymore. With our music we reach them. And of course, it’s so expensive to go from community to community here,” says Madeline.

Communicating by phone

Madeline and Phoebe even communicate by phone – because Phoebe now lives in Inukjuak.

When she’s not traveling to perform, Madeline spends time with her young daughter and boyfriend in Iqaluit. She says that she’s teaching her little girl how to throat sing.

But more concerts and more traveling may take Madeline away from home. It could be the price of fame, and it’s why Susan Aglukark had to settle in the South.

The logistics of the music business, says manager Randall Prescott, make it hard to live in the North and reach the larger market.

“You can give up your life to go on the road,” says Madeline. “I’m looking forward to it, but at the same time, I know it will take a lot of time. I just have to be patient. It’s kind of scary.”