Inuit Throat Singing

Inuit Throat Singing:  Teacher Notes

I really want to take this time of digital learning to share more world culture with students.  What an amazing opportunity we have to find videos, recordings, and examples of music from around the world performed by the actual culture bearers.  For my students I'm providing a little bit of information, websites where they can do more research, and usually a video or recording of the original artist.

What I share with kids:

Photo taken by Ansgar Walk

The term Inuit refers broadly to the Arctic indigenous population of Alaska, Canada, and Greenland. Inuit means “people,” and the language they speak is called Inuktitut, though there are regional dialects that are known by slightly different names. Today, the Inuit communities of Canada live in the Inuit Nunangat—loosely defined as “Inuit homeland”—which is divided into four regions.   In 2011, there were nearly 60,000 Inuit in Canada, 73 per cent of whom lived in Inuit Nunangat.

Referred to as Inuit Nunangat, the Inuit homeland comprises those inland and coastal areas north of the treeline. It is for this reason that the terms Inuit — itself a generic term — and Arctic peoples are often used interchangeably.​

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​Inuit throat singing, sometimes called katajjaq, is a form of musical performance uniquely found among the Inuit.  Inuit vocal games, also known as throat singing, occurred among some inuit groups and usually encompassed a wide range of sounds from deep in the throat and chest.   The traditional form consists of two women who sing duets in a close face-to-face formation with no instrumental accompaniment, in an entertaining contest to see who can outlast the other.  This art is still practiced in the Arctic.  

Watch below to see an explanation and example of Inuit Throat singing.

Learn more about the Inuit People here:  ​https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/aboriginal-people-arctic
​https://www.facinghistory.org/stolen-lives-indigenous-peoples-canada-and-indian-residential-schools/historical-background/inuit