Tanya Tagaq facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Tanya Tagaq
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Tagaq in 2021
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Tanya Tagaq Gillis |
| Born | May 5, 1975 |
| Origin | Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, Canada |
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| Years active | 2002–present |
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Tanya Tagaq (born Tanya Tagaq Gillis, May 5, 1975) is a famous Inuit artist from Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, Canada. She is known for her unique Inuit throat singing, songwriting, writing, acting, and visual art.
Contents
Early Life and Music
Tanya Tagaq grew up in Cambridge Bay, a community in Canada's Arctic. When she was 15, she moved to Yellowknife to attend high school. While there, she lived in a boarding school called Akaitcho Hall. It was during this time that she started practicing Inuit throat singing.
Throat singing is a traditional Inuit vocal art, usually performed by two women. They make sounds by breathing in and out, creating rhythms and melodies. Tanya Tagaq later studied visual arts at the NSCAD University in Nova Scotia. There, she decided to perform throat singing by herself because she didn't have a partner. This was unusual at the time, but it helped her create her own special style.
Music Career
Tanya Tagaq quickly became a popular performer at Canadian folk festivals. She became well-known around the world for working with the Icelandic singer Björk. They toured together and Tagaq was featured on Björk's 2004 album, Medúlla. Tagaq has also performed with the Kronos Quartet, a famous string quartet, and appeared on the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network.
In 2005, her CD called Sinaa (which means "edge" in Inuktitut) was nominated for five awards. She won awards for Best Producer/Engineer, Best Album Design, and Best Female Artist. Sinaa was also nominated for a Juno Award in 2006 for Best Aboriginal Recording.
Tagaq's 2008 album, Auk/Blood, included collaborations with other artists. In 2011, she released a live album called Anuraaqtuq, recorded at a music festival in Victoriaville.
In 2012, Tanya Tagaq performed the theme music for the CBC TV show Arctic Air.
Her third album, Animism, came out in 2014. This album was a big success! It won the $30,000 2014 Polaris Music Prize, which is a major award for Canadian music. It also won the Juno Award for Aboriginal Recording of the Year in 2015.
Tagaq's fourth album, Retribution, was released in 2016.
Books and Acting
In 2018, Tanya Tagaq released her first book, Split Tooth. It's a mix of fiction and her own memories. The book was nominated for the Giller Prize, a top Canadian literary award, and was shortlisted for the Amazon.ca First Novel Award.
Her fifth album, Tongues, released in 2022, was inspired by her book Split Tooth.
Tagaq also started acting! She appeared in the fourth season of the TV show True Detective. She is also expected to appear in the TV series North of North in 2025.
Collaborations with Other Artists
Tanya Tagaq has worked with many different artists.
- In 2005, she released a recording called Shaman Voices with Okna Tsahan Zam, a throat singer from Kalmykia, and Wimme, a yoiker from Finland.
- She started working with the Kronos Quartet in 2005. They have performed together many times, including a project called Nunavut and a piece called 13 Inuit Throat Song Games.
- In 2012, the Toronto International Film Festival asked Tagaq to create live music for the silent film Nanook of the North. She worked with composer Derek Charke, percussionist Jean Martin, and violinist Jesse Zubot for this project. Tagaq felt a strong connection to the film because it showed her ancestors living on the land.
- Tagaq also worked with composer Christos Hatzis and the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra on the music for the Royal Winnipeg Ballet's show Going Home Star: Truth and Reconciliation (2015). This work won a Juno Award in 2017.
- In 2017, Tagaq collaborated with another famous Indigenous artist, Buffy Sainte-Marie, on the song "You Got to Run (Spirit of the Wind)". She has also been a guest singer on songs by bands like July Talk and Weaves.
- In 2022, Tagaq and Chelsea McMullan worked together on the documentary film Ever Deadly.
Activism and Advocacy
Tanya Tagaq is a strong supporter of traditional Inuit sealing and Indigenous land rights.
In 2014, a famous TV host donated money to an animal rights group that was against the Canadian seal hunt. In response, many people, including Inuit, started posting "sealfies" online. These were pictures of themselves wearing sealskin or eating seal meat.
Tagaq posted a picture of her young daughter next to a seal that had been hunted. This seal was used to feed elders in her community, as seal meat is an important part of the Inuk diet and culture. Some animal rights activists reacted negatively to the photo, sending Tagaq online messages.
Tagaq has explained that attacks on the seal hunt can harm Indigenous communities because it affects the market for furs, which are important for their economy and way of life. She also pointed out that while some people were upset about seals, there was less attention on serious issues like missing and murdered Indigenous women.
The Aboriginal Peoples Television Network recognized Tagaq as one of the top Indigenous people to watch in 2016. They praised her for speaking out about important issues like racism, missing Indigenous women, and supporting her culture, including seal hunting.
In 2020, she narrated the music video for "End of the Road," a protest song about missing and murdered Indigenous women by the band Crown Lands.
Awards and Recognition
Tanya Tagaq has received many awards for her music and activism:
- 2006 Juno Awards, nominee: Aboriginal Recording of the Year, Sinaa
- 2009 Juno Awards, nominee: Aboriginal Recording of the Year and Instrumental Album of the Year, Auk/Blood
- 2014 Polaris Music Prize, winner: Animism
- 2014 Canadian Folk Music Pushing the Boundaries Award
- 2015 Juno Awards, winner: Aboriginal Recording of the Year, Animism
- 2015 Juno Awards, nominee: Alternative Album of the Year, Animism
- 2015 Western Canadian Music Award, winner: Aboriginal Recording of the Year, Spiritual Recording of the Year and World Recording of the Year.
- December 2016, she was made a Member of the Order of Canada, a high honor in Canada.
- 2017 Juno Awards, winner: Classical Album of the Year - Large Ensemble, Going Home Star
- 2019 Indigenous Voices Award for prose published in English, Split Tooth
- 2023 Gordon Burn prize, nominee: Split Tooth
Albums
- Sinaa (2005)
- Auk/Blood (2008)
- Anuraaqtuq (Live album, 2011)
- Animism (2014)
- Retribution (2016)
- Toothsayer (EP, 2019)
- Tongues (2022)
Images for kids
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Tanya Tagaq in 2021
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Tanya Tagaq performing at the Moers Festival in 2012
See also
- Indigenous Canadian personalities
- Sounds from the Ground
