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Susan Aglukark returns to Yk

Susan Aglukark will showcase songs from her long much-lauded career as well as the stories behind them at NACC Saturday night. Aglukark says her return to Yellowknife is a homecoming, to a city and a stage that influenced her teenage years and her emergence as an artist. photo courtesy of Susan Aglukark

Susan Aglukark, a legend in Canadian music and a passionate supporter of Inuit communities, will share her voice with Yellowknife this weekend.

In her 25-year career, she has produced seven albums and earned three Juno awards. Aglukark is also an officer of the Order of Canada, recipient of the first Aboriginal Achievement Award in Arts and Entertainment and 2016 recipient of the Governor General's Performing Arts Award for lifetime artistic achievement.

Aglukark says the show will be a homecoming of sorts, to her old high school stomping grounds. She will be performing Saturday evening on the Northern Arts and Cultural Centre stage.

Yellowknifer spoke with Aglukark about her upcoming show and her most recent project, aimed at inspiring youth to follow their dreams.

The following interview has been edited for brevity.

Q: What can the audience expect this weekend?

This is the first time back to Yellowknife in a really, really long time. So right now, it’s going to be two 45-minute standard sets with a song selection from nine albums. So it’s a little bit of older music, it’s a lot of new music. And really, the audience will get a little bit of (my) story.

Q: Is this something you normally do at your shows, sharing your own story and your own inspiration?

It pretty much is. I think it’s a little bit sweeter in this case because Yellowknife, in terms of high school and graduation, are my old stomping grounds. So I have these memories of high school at Sir John Franklin and NACC. Sitting in there. That whole, ‘Hmm, I wonder what it would be like to be that singer, to be that artist, to be that person?' and come full circle and have that opportunity to share comfortably.

Q: In high school, did you know that was what you wanted to pursue?

No, and again this is the work we're developing through the foundation, how to engage the dreamer and how to have those conversations with our children and our youth. If I had known what questions to ask, if I had trusted someone with those questions, would I have pursued it? I probably would have because really, I wanted to be a dancer. That's what I've always wanted to be is a dancer because I love music, I love moving to music. But I just never shared that dream with anybody because in our community that dreamer wasn't nurtured, so why have the conversation? And who do you have the conversation with? And as great as my parents are … they come from such a different world that they wouldn't know how to have those conversations. And I think that’s a far more common story than we realize.

Q: What is happening now with your Arctic Rose Foundation?

So it's a pilot year and I've selected Rankin Inlet, which is my region, the Kivalliq region. And Rankin Inlet because I have a history with the teacher there and some work with Grade 11-12 students there.

I'm developing culture-specific art therapy with a therapist here where I live. I'm not a trained therapist, I'm not a professional, so I approached her several months ago and I said here's what we need to do. And the truth is I don't know what that looks like, but I know that in order for us to work with the young people who are struggling, young people at home, it needs to be culture-specific. But what's that culture? (The youth have) identified a culture crisis, what are we working with? So we're developing art therapy, slowly together.

Q: In the description of your show for NACC, it references Canada 150. How do you relate to that as an Indigenous artist?

I am like most Indigenous artists - hesitant to jump in with 150 celebrations. As Indigenous artists, we're kind of torn both ways. This is how I make my living, and so, do I be selective what work we will accept? What we've been very fortunate with is most of our work, in fact all of our work to date, has been either Indigenous-driven, developed, created festivals with like-minded artists and art developers. Or in this case, Yellowknife and NACC, people who understand the situation. I'm on that wagon, so to speak, where how can we celebrate Canada's 150th when we haven't even begun the reconciliation conversation yet? There's so much more work that needs to be done before we celebrate. Then, in the spirit of celebration, what are we celebrating

Q: So the show, it's just the one night?

It's just the one night and I'm hoping it sells out and if they say, ‘Can you stay another night?,' yes I would love to.

Q: You would be OK with an encore?

Absolutely, I'd stay there as long as they needed me.