#inuktitut — Public Fediverse posts

Elisapie – Inuktitut (2023, Inuk)

Our next spotlight is on number 1086 on The List, submitted by @Yuki.

I’m not a covers person. Too often they come off to me as an artist just trying to prove their chops, saying ‘hey, check out what I can do with this song’, and I, more often than not, reply ‘I would prefer not to’. But this album, an entire album of covers from Inuk alt-folk artist Elisapie, comes off entirely differently. This isn’t a ‘look what I can do’ but a ‘these are how I heard these songs, where I lived and with the things happening in my life at the time’. Or even, given that every cover on this album has been translated and is sung in the artist’s own language (Inuktitut), ‘this is my story, told through these songs other people wrote’.

From the Bandcamp description:

“It’s a covers album that sprouted in the artist’s mind…when songs by artists such as Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Blondie, Fleetwood Mac, Metallica, Queen, and Cyndi Lauper, whose music once took over the community radio airwaves throughout Nunavik, Northern Quebec, triggered a flood of tears. Many of these songs were an escape as the community and cultural references were being challenged by colonization. Elisapie began a mental archaeological process: finding songs associated with emotional memories and people from her past… Every song is linked to a loved one or an intimate story that has shaped the person Elisapie is today. Through this act of cultural reappropriation, she tells her story, offers these songs as a gift to her community, and makes her language and culture resonate beyond the Inuit territory.”

Below is a track list noting the originals.

1. Isumagijunnaitaungituq (The Unforgiven – Metallica)
2. Sinnatuumait (Dreams – Fleetwood Mac)
3. Taimangalimaaq (Time After Time – Cyndi Lauper)
4. Qimatsilunga (I Want to Break Free – Queen)
5. Qaisimalaurittuq (Wish You Were Here – Pink Floyd)
6. Californiamut (Going to California – Led Zeppelin)
7. Uummati Attanarsimat (Heart of Glass – Blondie)
8. Inuuniaravit (Born to Be Alive – Patrick Hernandez)
9. Taimaa Qimatsiniungimat (Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye – Leonard Cohen)
10. Qimmijuat (Wild Horses – Rolling Stones) 05:29

I guarantee you’ve never heard these songs like this before. Grab a tissue and give this incredible album a spin. And, if you like what you hear but maybe want a bit of a pick-me-up afterwards, also check out the Remixes EP, which has danceable takes on tracks 2, 4, and 7.

• Bandcamp: Elisapie – Inuktitut
• Discogs: Elisapie – Inuktitut

AI, Wikipedia, and uncorrected machine translations of vulnerable languages
https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/09/25/1124005/ai-wikipedia-vulnerable-languages-doom-spiral/
#ycombinator #Wikipedia #ChatGPT #OpenAI #Google_Translate #artificial_intelligence #machine_translation #language #linguistics #Inaari_Sami #Greelandic #Inuktitut

I believe I mentioned the excellent #Elisapie album #Inuktitut the other week. May I also recommend #JeremyDutcher's new album #Motewolonuwok? It is easy to just let it and his voice take you away and you can. But the deeper waters are all the more vivid in their power. Perhaps especially now. #music https://jeremydutcher1.bandcamp.com/album/motewolonuwok

Elisapie's new album Inuktitut is just a fantastic work. Translations of our collective radio culture into Inuktitut, arranged originally, and just burning with emotion.
https://elisapie.bandcamp.com/album/inuktitut
#elisapie #inuktitut

BTW, I really can't recommend #Elisapie's new album #Inuktitut enough. The simple summary is that she translated and adapted a slew of nostalgic faves (#Queen, #Metallica, the #RollingStones, #Blondie, #FleetwoodMac etc) into Inuit. But it's a really cohesive and remarkable series of overall transformations. #music https://elisapie.bandcamp.com/album/inuktitut

Elisapie has a new album coming out with Inuktitut covers of Metallica, Cyndi Lauder, and more. Go check it out on Bandcamp. https://elisapie.bandcamp.com/album/inuktitut #Inuit #Inuktitut #Indigedon @bandcampfriday @IndigenousCreatives #Metallica #CyndiLauper #Elisapie

Elisapie’s beautiful cover of Heart of Glass. Uummati Attanarsimat. https://youtu.be/g7BSjmxg9DY #Inuit #Inuktitut #Arctic #Inuk #MusicCover #Indigenous #Elisapie

#FossilAdventCalendar Day 24

Our journey #north ends with one of the most important #fossils ever found. Like Puijila, Tiktaalik roseae is known from #Nunavut 🇨🇦, has an #Inuktitut name (meaning "large freshwater #fish"), and records an important #evolutionary transition, this time from #sea to #land. #Tiktaalik shares traits with both fish and #tetrapods, making it a close relative of all of us land-living #vertebrates. This replica and model are from the #CanadianMuseumOfNature.

This post ( https://canada.masto.host/@canadaehx/109569071157175759 ) mentions the sea goddess #Sedna. I first became aware of her from Heather Dale: https://youtu.be/zOYM3NKz9Nc

At some point, I need to do a research dive to find out more about those beliefs/stories, because I really want to learn more.

Also, I want to point out #Inuktitut uses a ✨really✨ cool #syllabic script ( https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inuktitut_syllabics ) called #ᖃᓂᐅᔮᖅᐸᐃᑦ / #qaniujaaqpait. It also has variations to write other Canadian langs: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Aboriginal_syllabics

#ᓴᓐᓇ

#FossilAdventCalendar Day 23
#FossilFriday

The #Canadian 🇨🇦 #Arctic has yielded some especially important #fossils documenting major #evolutionary changes. This 3D-printed replica of a #fossil from #Nunavut and displayed in the #CanadianMuseumOfNature is one of these. It's Puijila darwini, whose name means "young sea #mammal" in #Inuktitut. It looks like an otter, but it's one of the earliest relatives of #seals and #sealions - with still-functional hands and feet, unlike modern #pinnipeds.

'A better job than we've ever done:' Nunavut researchers turn to citizen scientists

https://www.ctvnews.ca/sci-tech/a-better-job-than-we-ve-ever-done-nunavut-researchers-turn-to-citizen-scientists-1.5245397

#Canada #Nunavut #CitizenScience #Inuktitut #ice #SeaIce #CambridgeBay #science #research #BaffinIsland #arctic