As Chief Walter Naveau proudly announced, the National Aboriginal Festival in Timmins was happy to host two traditional Inuit throat singers perform for their music for the very first time in Timmins and the traditional territory of the Mattagami First Nation.
Tamara Tekpannie and Janice Oolayou, originally from Nunavut now residing in Ottawa, performed the first-ever live performance of traditional Inuit throat singing in Timmins under blue skies after week-long rain.
“One of my friends heard about this opportunity in Timmins to perform at National Aboriginal Day, so I reached out to Kathy, one of the organizers, and said we are Inuit throat singers and we would love to be there to help you celebrate and we made it happen," said Tamara.
Tekpannie and Oolayou are professional throat singers.
“We call ourselves Aramakuluid,” said Janice.
And what did they think of coming to Timmins and becoming the first to perform throat-singing in the City with the Heart of Gold?
“We are excited to be here,” said Tamara. “It’s a very good opportunity for the both of us to meet with Aboriginal community and the people of Timmins.”
Not only are Oolayou and Tekpannie professional throat singers, but they are busy with full-time work as well as looking after their children.
“We are both full-time moms and we are both full time workers, and I also am a full time student at the same time,” said Oolayou.
Oolayou is taking an honours Bachelor of Arts in psychology at Carleton University, with a double minor in political science and neuroscience and mental health.
Tekpannie said, the throat-singing tradition began during times when the men, who traditionally were the hunters, left the home for a period of time to go hunting.
“The women stayed behind to look after the children and the home,” she said.
“In order to stay warm, we would throat sing, imitating the sounds of the environment that we heard,” explained Tekpannie.
