Tudjaat are Madeleine Allakariallak and Pheobe Atagotaaluk, two Inuit women from Nunavut, Canada who are keeping the ancient tradition of throat singing alive. Tudjaat got its start when Madelaine, who performed as part of a backup chorus with Susan Aglukark's third CD, was noticed by its producer, Randall Prescott. When he learned that she had a cousin who was also a throat singer, he arranged to have them brought together for a recording session which combined their traditional singing and modern music. This short (six tracks) self-titled CD featured Kajusita (When My Ship Comes In), a song which won its producer the 1997 American Indian Film Institute Awards Best Song award, and was included on a United Nations compilation CD. The song, which describes the forced exile of a group of Inuit to the High Arctic in the last century, is a painful and poignant tribute to those who suffered and died as a consequence of a questionable government decision.
IQALUITListen to the recent CD release of Tudjaat and you can hear that the story of the Tudjaat spans time and space, from Resolute Bay to Germany, from the ancient art of throat singing to modern rhythms.
But to really understand where Tudjaat comes from, you might look at its name, which means "gravel" in Inuktitut, but is also another name for the community of Resolute.
Another song on the CD Tudjaat released in 1995 is a medley of the familiar Southern song "You are my sunshine" and the new "The Land that I come from," sung in both English and Inuktitut.
Tudjaat are Madeleine Allakariallak and Phoebe Atagotaaluk, two Inuit women from Nunavut, Canada who are keeping the ancient tradition of Inuit throat singing alive.
Tudjaat got its start when Madelaine, who performed as part of a backup chorus with Susan Aglukark's third CD, was noticed by its producer, Randall Prescott.
The song, which describes the forced exile of a group of Inuit to the High Arctic in the last century, is a painful and poignant tribute to those who suffered and died as a consequence of a questionable government decision.
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