Beatrice Deer returns to Aqpik Jam after 8 years

After eight years away from Kuujjuaq’s Aqpik Jam, Beatrice Deer is reflecting on what it’s like to return to the stage where she got her start.

Deer’s debut performance at Aqpik Jam was in 2000, when she was 18.

“I remember being nervous,” she said in an interview Tuesday right after her sound check.

For that first performance, Deer was accompanied by her dad, as well as Jaaji of the band Twin Flames and other musicians from her hometown of Quaqtaq. 

Aqpik Jam bills itself as Nunavik’s largest music festival. This year, it runs Tuesday to Friday, featuring more than 20 acts including folk duo Twin Flames, William Tagoona, who is one of Nunavik’s fathers of Inuit rock, and Terry Uyarak, who hails from Igloolik.

Since that night 24 years ago, Deer has returned to Aqpik Jam multiple times, quite a few of those occasions accompanied by her bandmates at the time, Derek and Willis Tagoona.

“We used to play when I was living in Quaqtaq,” she said. “Those were good times.”

This year, Deer stepped onstage with a group she has played with for 12 years and says is “incredible.”

Deer said her relationship with Kuujjuaq and Aqpik Jam has changed over the years. One of those changes is marked by sobriety — she stopped drinking 13 years ago. Looking back, Deer says she identified Kuujjuaq as her “party place.”

“I had great times,” she said, “But I also did a lot of things that I deeply regret when I was drunk.”

After she quit drinking, Deer said it was daunting at first to return to Aqpik Jam. She said it took her time to be comfortable around people who are partying when she wasn’t. Now, she says, she looks forward to coming back to the festival and spending time with everybody.

“Today, I am not afraid to be around people drinking,” she said. “It does not bother me unless someone is being bothersome.”

Deer pointed out that Aqpik Jam, as well as other music festivals in Nunavik, are “super important” because it gives people the opportunity to come together as a community.

Beatrice Deer points up at the end of her song named “Free,” off her 2021 album “Shifting.” (Photo by Cedric Gallant)

“You create memories, you create friendships, people coming in from near and far,” she said, adding it makes a great environment for young artists to network, gain experience, get exposure and find business opportunities.

On Tuesday night, Deer’s performance was a mix of songs from across her discography. However, she made sure to include a few songs from her newest album, from 2023, Little Songs. 

This album served as a compilation of Inuktitut children’s songs, with the goal of preserving them. It was then distributed to daycares and schools across Nunavik as a gift to the kids. 

“They are traditional songs that not many of us know, I did not know a lot of the songs that I recorded on this album,” Deer said.

She offered some words of wisdom to young Nunavik artists who may be shy performing on the region’s big stage.

“Shyness is only a hindrance from learning your potential,” she said. “If you feel like you want to go on stage, go for it.”