Looee Arreak launches new YouTube channel for children

Iqaluit singer Looee Arreak has started a new YouTube channel to teach children Inuktitut and help preserve the language.

Arreak, along with Inuit children, sing and perform dance moves in 18 episodes of Inuit Kidz.

Looee Arreak (File photo)

“We practised together,” Arreak said of the experience creating the videos. “It was more like we were having fun together.”

Recording videos with children’s songs was a logical way to start filling the gap of Inuktitut content on YouTube, Arreak said. She wanted to include children in the project, and she wanted to create a comfortable environment while shooting the videos.

“Most of the things that children watch are all in English,” Arreak said. “And I’ve heard many parents say that they never taught their child in English, but they’re learning it from watching YouTube.”

Arreak enlisted the help of Vincent Desrosiers, a videographer based in Iqaluit, to shoot and edit the videos for Inuit Kidz.

“Looee was helpful, because not only is she good with children but she’s good at directing,” Desrosiers said. “They had a bit of homework before we filmed that weekend. They were practising the songs and the moves, so she did quite a decent amount of work in order to get them ready.”

Arreak, who has been releasing music since 1995, has used song to promote Inuktitut for decades. She has released two albums for kids: Qannikuluit and I-Pi-Ti-Ki.

The Nunavut Tunngavik Foundation awarded Arreak the 2021 Inuktuuqta! Inuktitut writing prize to author a novel in Inuktitut.

“I wanted to use my skills to contribute to help sustain the language of Inuktitut,” Arreak said. “I realized that music and learning are deeply intertwined. It really affected me as a child in a positive way when we would sing and do actions and movements.”

Desrosiers has worked with Arreak before, in her role as executive director of Qaggiavuut, an organization that works to promote Inuit culture through the arts.

“When I see her in front of the camera or singing, you see that she’s truly an artist,” Desrosiers said about Arreak. “She lights up, and without being too cliché, that’s where her soul comes alive.”

Inuit Kidz first became available on May 30, with Arreak uploading one video a day until June 16 as part of its initial launch, for a total of 18 videos.