Award-winning singer and songwriter Susan Aglukark will be performing at Ursuline College Theatre in Chatham (UCC) next week.
Aglukark will be at the UCC theatre on Thursday evening for a free one hour long singing and speaking presentation of Inuit history in Canada called NOMAD: Correcting the Narrative. NOMAD includes songs, stories, film, photos and music videos and takes the audience on a journey experienced by the Canadian Inuit over the past several thousand years.
The goal is to shed light on the psychological and cultural impacts of rapid change in Canada’s north and share the story of resilience and determination of a people who have maintained "quiet dignity, despite near annihilation by disease and shifting norms, due to colonization and the trauma of Residential Schools," according to a media release issued by the St. Clair Catholic District School Board Friday afternoon.
The school board said NOMAD is a story of healing and learning.
The presentation is scheduled for Thursday at 6 p.m. at the Ursuline College Theatre and is appropriate for audiences aged 13 and older. The theatre has 500 seats.
Those interested in the presentation must register here before Monday.
Aglukark's most successful song is "O Siem", which reached No. 1 on the Canadian country and adult contemporary charts in 1995. She has released seven studio albums and has won three Juno Awards.
Aglukark was born in Churchill, Manitoba and was raised in what is now known as Nunavut. She endured sexual abuse as a child and has been vocal about this issue in some of the first nations in Northern Ontario.
Aglukark has also acted as spokesperson for several non-profit groups working with aboriginal and Inuit youth, notably through her writing workshops for Attawapiskat First Nation youth and her involvement in Northern Canada's food crisis.
She was also named an officer of the Order of Canada in 2005.