Cape Breton icon Rita MacNeil remembered in Nunavik

Rita MacNeil performs in August, 2000 during Kuujjuaq’s Aqpik Jam. (PHOTO BY JANE GEORGE)

While many fans across Canada will miss the much-loved Cape Breton singer, Rita MacNeil, who died April 16 at the age of 68, MacNeil also leaves behind many fans in Kuujjuaq who still remember her August 2000 performance in the community.

That concert, at the Aqpik Jam, might have been an awkward encounter between two very different worlds.

But instead, Kuujjuaq residents paid rapt attention to MacNeil’s concert during her first appearance ever in the Arctic, showing that quite another dynamic was at work in the packed gym that night.

Up until then, the popular four-day bash had usually featured musical acts from the eastern Arctic or Greenland, but its organizers hoped MacNeil would accept an invitation to come to Kuujjuaq for a concert.

“I was amazed how much they wanted me to give a performance,” MacNeil told Nunatsiaq News during an interview at the time.

When MacNeil arrived at Kuujjuaq’s airport terminal on Aug. 18, 2000, a group of fans were already on hand to greet her, chanting “Ri-ta, Ri-ta!”

Throughout the day, people of all ages kept approaching her. They didn’t ask her for autographs, but merely wanted to shake her hand and welcome her to Kuujjuaq, where her songs continue to be standard fare on the community radio station, and where her former CBC television show “Rita and Friends” was always popular.

Many Kuujjuammiut at MacNeil’s concert were clearly familiar with her songs. A wave of applause rose up spontaneously from the crowd even before MacNeil had a chance to begin singing “I’ll Accept the Rose.”

Some lit up their lighters in the darkness to accompany her anthemic hit, “Working Man.”

MacNeil’s songs were filled with images of roses, coal mines, and autumn leaves, none of which are found in Kuujjuaq, but the audience evidently found something in these Maritime references that spoke to them, too.

“We love you Rita!” shouted one man.

Perhaps this outpouring of emotion came from the emotional resonance of MacNeil’s songs, whose simple themes revolve around family, friends, home, and love.

MacNeil, somewhat surprised by how well her audience knew her songs, said she could understand why the audience responded so intensely to her music.

“People relate to the heart of the song, and to the down-to-earth feelings,” MacNeil said.

One fan, a devoted admirer of MacNeil’s music, made a pair of miniature Inuit mittens for the singer to keep as a souvenir. Another fan also crafted MacNeil earrings in the shape of an ulu, while another set aside a jar of homemade “aqpik” jam for the performer.

Afterwards, MacNeil couldn’t say enough about the “great time” she’d had, and the “great folks” in Kuujjuaq.

“It all makes for a wonderful night, and it’ll be there in my book of memories,” MacNeil told Nunatsiaq News. “I’ve toured this country so much but I’ve never been to this part, so I was honoured by the great welcome I received.”

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