Picture this: Scenes from this year’s Aqpik Jam in Kuujjuaq
Annual four-day festival of music and activities wrapped up Friday night
The crowd dances on Wednesday night at Aqpik Jam as Elisapie fires up the stage with both old and new music. (Photo by Cedric Gallant)
Another successful Aqpik Jam wrapped up Friday night in Kuujjuaq with performances by William Tagoona, Juurini, Liam and Dave, Arctistic and others.
Through this photo feature by Nunatsiaq News reporter Cedric Gallant, here is a look back at some of the scenes from the nightly concerts that highlighted the annual festival.
The Searson sisters bring Celtic music to a dancing crowd at Aqpik Jam. (Photo by Cedric Gallant)
Metis and/or J. Bay Cree fiddling for the 2024 Aqpik festival ??♥️…
Why not get a news reporter that can show the reality of what’s news in kuujjuaq? The death and destruction of manifesto of drugs and alcohol and the creeping people allowed to immigrate to our community without anyone knowing who they are. The young lives that end in violence. It’s pathetic to see and more pathetic to see your news missing it all.
Festival like Aqpik jam can be very entertaining and boost healthfulness to the community. And the actual event has again delivered. But this anticipation of the event of Aqpik jam has been injected into life months before it occurred. Even the mayor dropped her agendas several times getting on the airways amidst the issues of alcohol and drugs , suicide and homicide to excitedly enlighten the community of Aqpik jam to come. Maybe such news is welcome among the drunken violence of everyday life. But it’s inappropriate for the focus to be so heavily on entertainment, when almost no focus is on the misery people in Kuujjuaq are living with. The coop and landholding are surely focused on profits of beer and wine, hospital social services and police picks up the pieces of a broken society, oh maybe now I understand why people are just anticipating the next event, soon Christmas spirit with fill the fm radio station long before there’s any sign of Santa. There’s are sting of party only needed that fills up superficial in kuujjuaq life. And kids events are nowhere on the list, among big prize gambling for adults only. Traditionally or what ?
That 40 plus million rehab build overlooking the Koksoak is open. Clients and family support programs are in operation.
Thanks Ida A for the enlightenment. I hope you are as optimistic as some are lacking insights. Together that could ease the burden, at least to hopefulness even knowing it’s in vain. Kuujjuaq leadership first and foremost need to be replaced by some kind of administrative emergency from Quebec City. Yes , get rid of the uselessness at the municipality. Police need more tools to get this ridiculous drunken society into a civilized statehood. The hospital needs more psychiatric tools and workers in that field to deal with this mentally deteriorating situation that’s turning the town into a lunatic playground, the good souls on board deserve refuge from the zombies we see sprouting about. And even the ones causing the devastating should be sheltered and protected from the wind of the devastation and mental illness. Let’s stand up to the drunkenness and the lack of responsibility, and ask for better conditions, from the government. Let’s invite the powers to be , come and sleep over for a week or so, to absorb our new traditions.
I think you’re focusing way too much on the negatives in town, when there’s a lot of positive developments and good things going on in Kuujjuaq.
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Most people in town do not deal with drunken violence in their every day life, it’s just a minority of people. Kuujjuaq, like every where else on earth, is no paradise and it is not perfect, but it still has a lot of good things going on, especially when you look to any community in Nunavik, Nunavut or the even Northwest territories….
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The coop in town has been expanding over the last few years and the service at the new stores are better than they were a few years. it has been improving and it seems like it will keep improving. Most people who buy beer drink responsibly and don’t cause drunken violence. We can’t pretend like things would be better if we go back to a “dry community” where a bunch of boot leggers will make even more money and cause even more crime again.
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The Landholding does what it does because there is no real funding for any LHC in the JBNQA. Any money Nayumivik makes adds to their ability to make a road to the eventual deep sea port or to help out with our elders and other charity events or help our land. Nayumivik does the most for its people of any of the LHCs, it’s basically only Nayumivik and Qaqqalik that have any money because of the way the JBNQA was set up, so something has to be done to keep on helping LHCs do good work.
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Sure, Kuujjuaq isn’t perfect but its a lot closer to perfect than the drunken violent emergency state you are saying it is. There’s no way a bunch of people from Quebec City could do better than our municipality and LHC… they wouldn’t even be able to find Kuujjuaq on a map let alone understand issues in town or start to fix things.
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There are a bunch of communities across Nunavut and Nunavik and the NWT/Yukon where they have way more problems and way less entertainment and fun things happening. Don’t get caught up in too much doom and gloom because there’s a lot more to town than just bad stuff. taima!
Thank you for showing the denial that lives in kuujjuaq. The town has become dysfunctional. People are dying almost every week, and kids have no future. There are people that are good people , those who still have a head on their shoulders while living out the misery of suicidal, homicide, drunkenness, and unsafe roads due to drunk drivers, it’s inappropriate for you really, if you know better to put up a defensive approach to the misery people are enduring. We’re born and bred in a land we can no longer feel safe in, due to greed and poor leadership. Quebec City always finds us on the map, where do you think the resources come from ? And landholding using peoples lives to get a loading dock at the bay, are you for real .? The landholding has part took in enough destruction in the community over the years it had a bar, known the people can’t handle alcohol well, and it continues. The coop are taken you and those that understand not, to a level of sinfulness. Yes kuujjuaq has a lot of good things going on, but with the bad stuff they have many like you , to try and cover it up, we’ll news to you , it’s being exposed and the good souks are working on improving by exposing. Many of us still go out on the land and water and see the beer cans and garage that the no cares are throwing out. Help the community if you can , or get help at social services.
Yes, make kuujjuaq great again. Donald Trump got a better chance to make American great again, than anyone can for kuujjuaq. Take a tour: construction taken place all through town, done by southerners , only a few dedicated local people on the job sites. Drunken driving and hundreds of walkers with pack packs of beer, 30 and 40 year olds , parents and ex- parents. Kids stealing everything they can, taking from neighbors who have little to take. Police , ambulance. Medivac, suicide, violence and death, funeral and flag down days several times a month , prematurel death, and some don’t even know what’s on the go. The town, is a mess, and the ones in charge haven’t a clue that it’s happening.
Kuujjuaq is like fake news . It’s a fake, make believe community. Lots of good people in kuujjuaq that feels the same way, too many fake people, trying to pretend all the time that things are well. But can’t fool anyone with the evidence that lies out in the open. Young people are at high risk of death , injuries. Drug overdose, alcoholism m suicide, murder, failure to have relationships, no education, sexual abuse. And these are high possibilities. Mid age people are already ill, no houses, no jobs. Stealing money from elderly. The only solution is for the good people that are surviving this is to get together with some good immigrants coming in to form a task force to work with the governments to make possible change. Dry communities are not the answer, that being said, severe limitations must be put on the drinking availability. People don’t do well with the drink, it can’t get worse by limiting. Right now it’s out of hand. Let’s try limiting to see if it’s out of hand as well. Just to try. If it don’t work, there’s no future for the community, only way is immigration to get new ideas and new people to bring better life.
I don’t think anyone wants to be negative about kuujjuaq, just for that sake. But come on , let’s not pretend things are ok, when things are not ok. That’s not helping. There are big problems that’s not be addressed. It’s not normal to have so many people dying in a short period in a 2700 population. Please you ones in position of leadership, get together and discuss this, and don’t suck up to each other in fear of not being accepted in the group. Speak your mind, speak your truth! It’s not famous to be truthful, but it’s for the kids and many good people that depend on good leadership. If the troubles continues in kuujjuaq, Inuit will suffer most, because there will be more interference in the culture, by outsiders who have governance when we are not addressing our issues.