Indigenous modernity is a significant area of study in ethnomusicology, especially to those who work with First Nations, Metis and Inuit communities in Canada. Concerned with how Indigenous musicians and artists innovate tradition, scholars consider how new creative opportunities arise when these musicians and artists are exposed to new contexts, media and audiences. Special attention is given to the ways in which musicians and artists deal with modifying “traditional cultural expressions so that they become particularly meaningful and relevant to Aboriginal people today, as well as to new audiences” (Hoefnagels and Diamond 2012, 5).
Katajjaq (pl. katajjait), a Nunavik Inuit term, refers to vocal games and the accompanying throat singing involved in its communal performance. An integral component of cultural heritage among the Inuit of Canada, katajjaq is traditionally performed by two women, however, recent trends indicate that katajjaq is being reinvented by numerous Inuit musicians. Nelson Tagoona, one of the very few male Inuk throat singers, respectfully combines katajjaq and beat-boxing to form a genre he calls “throat-boxing”. This paper will provide a case study of Nelson Tagoona and examine how he carefully constructs new contexts for katajjaq. Special attention will be given to Nelson’s creative process and how he negotiates and mediates between tradition and innovation. An interview with Nelson will provide insight to these concerns.
Hoefnagels, Anna and Beverley Diamond. 2012. “Introduction,” In Aboriginal Music in Contemporary Canada; Echoes and Exchanges, edited by Anna Hoefnagels and Beverley Diamond, 3-9. Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press.
About the presenterRaj Shobha Singh
Raj Singh, PhD, is a music researcher in the Don Wright Faculty of Music at Western University. Her interests include critical Indigenous theory, Indigenous methodologies and Indigenous modernity. Her current work examines how Inuit musicians combine traditional and contemporary forms of music to include new realms of lived experiences. Moreover, her work with Inuit hip hoppers interrogates the intersections between gender, identity, and race as they relate to individual and communal notions of belonging.