The Inuit are the descendants of the Thule people, who first appeared in western Alaska approximately in 1000 CE. They diverged from the Aleut group and from northeastern Siberian migrants around 4000 years ago. Traditional Inuit music has been based on drums used in dance music, and a vocal style known as katajjaq (Inuit throat singing). It is distinguished by recitative-like singing, intricate rhythmic organization, a relatively short melodic range averaging approximately a sixth, melodic prominence of major thirds and minor seconds, and undulating melodic movement. Traditional Inuit music is utilized for entertainment, as a game, to tell stories, and during particular occasions. The music is mostly based on the sound of drums and Inuit singing and chanting.
(Coming up are short summaries on a few of the different categories of Inuit songs)
Katajjaq:
Katajjaq is a traditional competitive but cooperative song played as a game between two ladies. It is one of the few examples of overtone singing in the world, a unique style of making sounds that is well known in Tuvan throat-singing. When competing, two women stand face to face and sing utilizing a sophisticated system of following each other, resulting in one vocal hitting a strong accent while the other hits a weak, merging the two voices into a practically indistinguishable unified sound. They repeat small patterns at staggered intervals, frequently imitating natural noises like geese, caribou, or other wildlife, until one of them runs out of breath, trips over her own tongue, or starts laughing, at which point the game is ended.
Pisiit:
Pisiit songs are about events that happened in the past. They are musical interpretations of events or eras in history. Pisiit aids in explaining how we arrived where we are. They are songs that pay homage to tradition and traditional ways of life; they are a living tradition. They are only sung with the drum as the dominating instrument; guitars are not permitted in modern Pisiit songs.
Ayaya:
Ayaya songs are songs that tell personal stories. Ayaya is a desire expression. Every Inuit had a personal song that they had memorized for feast time, when everyone gathered to sing, laugh, and eat. There was no point in writing down your song because it was already memorized in your head and you had to be ready to sing it when your name was called.
Drum Dancing:
In the Central and Eastern Arctics, a single drummer performs, often accompanied by ayaya vocalists. The crowd waits for the first drummer to come forward; if no volunteers come forward, singers summon a drummer to the floor by singing a drummer's particular song (pisiit). This dance has no prescribed or formal moves; each drummer has his or her own style. Typically, the dance begins slowly and builds in intensity. Each man takes turns beating on a single drum. Once they start dancing, it usually lasts late into the night.
(Next are the different instruments used in Inuit music.)
Instruments:
The main percussion instrument is the qilaut, a wooden frame drum. It is constructed by boiling and bending two to three inch wide pieces of wood into a circular frame with a handle jutting out. A detailed animal skin, typically caribou, is stretched across the frame and secured with a string. The drum can reach one meter in diameter but is typically one yard in length. A qatuk, or wooden beater, is used to strike it on the rim. The sound produced is a mix of the percussive impact from striking the wood and the vibrations produced by the stretched membrane. Some communities, such as the Inuvialuit of the Mackenzie Delta, beat the drums with wands instead of thick wooden beaters.
The tautirut, which is similar to the fiola or Icelandic fiddle, is an Inuit bowed zither. It is unclear whether the instrument is entirely indigenous or was introduced by Nordic sailors either before or after Columbus. The Inuit culture is one of the few in the Americas with a chordophone legacy.
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Works Cited
Canadian Geographic. “Performing Arts.” Indigenous Peoples Atlas of Canada, Canadian Geographic, 14 June 2018, https://indigenouspeoplesatlasofcanada.ca/article/performance-arts/.
