Susan Aglukark and her band are performing this Wednesday night in Okotoks at the Old Church Theatre.
The multi-award-winning singer and songwriter is bringing a full band and throat singer Angela Amarualik with her.
Aglukark is celebrating the 30th anniversary of her major record label debut 'This Child'.
Starting her cross-Canada trip recently is bringing back a lot of memories and creating new ones.
"Absolutely, I've met wonderful folks over the course of the last three weeks. I've even gotten a cassette tape of 'This Child' to sign and they had held on to it waiting for an opportunity all these years. Wonderful stories and memories from folks... the other thing that's happening is, "My mom made me listen to your album and I grew up with This Child," and you realize you're at the stage in your life where you're meeting the next generation of fans and their stories. It does bring back incredible moments in those early years of being in the studio and discovering Canada for the first time, because we got to tour so much of Canada in '95 and '96. Even now, we go to places that we haven't visited, and we just love it so much. There are just wonderful memories."
One of the major cultural changes that has occurred since This Child was released thirty years ago is the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
Aglukark has made it a point as part of her performance to delve into the past and share it with the audience.
"What I'm seeing and witnessing now in audiences, and two or three generations of audiences, is that in this day and age in this country of ours, I would say especially in the last six or seven years since Canada's 150th and then of course the reconciliation conversation that was launched by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) is that Canadians in general, fans especially and parents and their adult children are now allies, their relationship has changed. Everybody, it seems in the audience needs to hear why reconciliation, what is that history of trauma, why that work is so important for us Canadians. And the message I leave is why it's so important that we Indigenous do that work in discovering these pieces, because in the discovery of these pieces is the healing and we really need to spend time on that. The next generation gets it. There is this empathy and compassion that that generation is coming to the relationship with. And that makes a big difference in the work that we need to continue to do."
Some of the songs performed will be from some of her other albums that follow a similar vein, such as her album Unsung Heroes.
"I've created a collection of what we call the dog tag numbers; there's a song we perform called 'E 186' which addresses the whole part of Canadian history where the government gave my family and many Inuit families a dog tag as a way to be registered in the transition years to settlement life. So, they'll see the E-tag numbers showing up on the big screen along with the name that was associated with that E-tag number. So, things like that just reinforce, here are some of the things that our government did to our ancestors, our grandparents, and our parents and here is why we are recovering from some of these things."
With the recent issue of fans booing national anthems in both Canada and the United States of America, Aglukark responded to the controversy as she once sang 'Oh Canada' at the 1998 Grey Cup in Winnipeg.
"It's a complex relationship, but having said that, I'm a very proud Canadian, and I'm very proud as an Inuk person to be a steward of Arctic Canada. In that light, I will always root for Canada and now especially when we look at the threats that are being made to annex Canada. Then the comments made about buying Greenland and as Inuit in circumpolar Inuit regions all over the world, we support our fellow Inuit in Greenland, so in that way, as a Canadian Inuk, I am going to stand up for the country. It is a complex relationship, but in times like this, I think of ourselves as Indigenous Canadians first, which is how I look at it."
Something extra special might be happening on Wednesday, too. A local choir might be joining Aglukark and her band for one or two songs, as well as a local drumming circle might be able to join them on stage.