Ottawa Inuit youth get their music jam night back

Myriah Graham on guitar leads participants in a song during a youth music night Oct. 20 sponsored by Tungasuvvingat Inuit. (PHOTOS BY COURTNEY EDGAR)

Christine Agnetsiak, 13, originally from Pond Inlet, picks up the ukulele for the first time Oct. 20. By the end of the night she could play a whole song.

OTTAWA—Christine Agnetsiak, 13, from Pond Inlet, sits cross-legged on the floor plucking at a ukulele for the first time. She is inside a circle of armchairs in the centre of the recreational room at Tungasuvvingat Inuit’s Richmond Road location in Ottawa for Youth Music Night.

It’s the third instalment of the program, Oct. 20, since TI, the Ottawa-based Inuit service agency, put it back into their schedule after a two-and-a-half-year hiatus.

Within a couple of hours Agnetsiak is able to play a whole song on her own.

A young boy reads a Dragonball-Z book in a large armchair and right beside him, a young girl props her bare foot atop a drum, braiding bracelets from red string tied to her toes.

The pea soup green armchairs are rubbed raw at the head and arm-rests from use. They were hand-me-downs from Larga Baffin—left behind when the Baffin patient boarding home moved into its larger space down the road.

“We don’t waste anything here,” said Jamie Lecompte, in charge of youth programming at TI. The food offered tonight is leftover from a noon-hour community feast TI hosts monthly at a Vanier church.

The organizers of Youth Music Night and the dozen children who have come for cinnamon buns, homemade stew and a chance to connect with Inuit community members through music, are sitting, standing, singing and horsing around.

Different-sized drums, a guitar, a harmonica and a jaw harp make their way through hands big and small throughout the evening.

A toddler has his first interaction with a drum and even mouths some words he doesn’t yet know, mimicking other people singing.

Every Thursday evening in October, TI has arranged a time and space for the youth to “drop in and chill out,” as Lecompte says about her project.

“Tonight is throat singing night,” Lecompte said. But they have no strict rules.

“We should write a song about us being strong,” says Eliza, seven years old. She’s the daughter of Charlotte Qamaniq, acclaimed throat singer who performs in the group Silla + Rise. Eliza draws pictures, lying belly down on the floor.

Her suggestion lights a creative spark in the room and for the next few hours, the group works on lyrics, drumming and even a rap they complete and perform together by the end of the night.

“This is a song about us being strong,” Eliza said. “What else are we?”

They brainstorm: brave, smart, Indigenous.

The adults present—parents, community workers and employees of TI—play different instruments, throating, and encourage the youth to try their hand at music.

Qamaniq used to organize TI’s music night two years ago before funding ran out and they had to cancel it. They re-launched the program this October after securing funding again.

Qamaniq’s co-organizer two years ago, Myriah Graham, is also present, guiding the children to play guitar and singing a song that is one of their favourites: “One Day” by Matisyahu. They replace the word “God” with “spirit” to be inclusive.

“We made sure the songs we taught were very positive,” said Graham. They do some Beatles, some Dylan.

Graham is on guitar and Lecompte is on ukulele. Qamaniq comes in with the throat singing later on. They get the older boys to drum.

Lecompte says the programming is important for youth because it brings the community together in a positive way, to be creative together. For Graham, teaching music to youth is vital.

“It probably saved my life, playing guitar,” Graham said.

On the floor in the centre of the circle, Eliza has written down the lyrics of the song the group worked on together. She had struggled with the spelling of Indigenous, scratching it out and re-writing it several times.

“This isn’t a good page,” she said, frustrated by the misspellings and crossed out words.

“Yes, it is,” Qamaniq assured her. “Making messes is what creation is all about.”

Tungasuvvingat Inuit is trying to hold the music night every Thursday. See TI’s website for more information or contact organizer Lecompte at 613-565-5885, ext. 244, or email yitw@tungasuvvingatinuit.com.