Nanook, one of Greenland’s most popular rock/pop bands, was formed 15 years ago and its members have watched the evolution of Nunavut unfold while taking the opportunity to perform at home and abroad.
"We’ve been to Kuujjuaq, Inukjuak and, I think, Iqaluit, three or four times now,” said Christian Elsner, lead guitarist and vocalist for Nanook, speaking in the backroom of Atlantic Music Shop, his music store in downtown Nuuk. Elsner and his brother performed acoustically at the Alianait Arts Festival in Iqaluit after being invited for Alianait Arts Festival 6th to 9th of July.
“Six years ago we were there for the second time. The whole band. This year some of the [other] band members couldn’t go, but we went anyway, my brother Frederik and I. It was very good. People were happy.
“The first time, I remember we were very surprised how similar people are, there to here. We have the same humour; the language, we can almost understand. It’s like 70-80 per cent [that] we can understand each other. If there are some words [we don’t understand] we just switch to English for a little bit, but we try to speak in Greenlandic, and they speak their Inuktitut to us, and it feels pretty good. So that was very surprising to me, that you kind of felt home when you tour in Nunavut.”
Similar people, similar problems
The Elsners' father is Inuk.
“I remember one of the band members, one of his first impressions were the Inuit take a lot of pride in the culture, and they want to speak their language. I think that’s a good thing... here, it’s very European, mixed with Greenlandic... that is a huge difference I think, in good and bad.
“One of the bad sides [of] Nunavut, you have the same problems as here with drugs, alcohol abuse, suicide," Elsner said.
Greenland, which is within the Kingdom of Denmark, considers suicide to be one of its most significant national social issues as well. Until 2012, it had the highest suicide rate in the world, rising steadily from the 1970s until 1994, with an observed rate of 107 suicides annually per 100,000 people. The rates, it was noted, were similar to those observed in Canadian Inuit. It now accounts for eight per cent of total deaths in Greenland, and is the leading cause of death in young men in the 15-29 demographic. However, there has been an improvement in the last decade.
Both jurisdictions also suffer from a housing shortage but it's more pronounced in Nunavut, Elsner remarked, “I think that’s one of the sad parts, compared to here. I think [housing here] is more developed, in that case. The saddest thing, I think, I told everyone I met over there as well, it’s such beautiful nature, but so much garbage all over the place. I don’t understand why. We went fishing with some of our Nunavut friends, and there were cans all over the place, bags of rubbish, just all over the place. It seems accepted over there... it was normal just to throw a can on the road. Where here, you would be told by the guy next to you, ‘Hey! Pick that up!’ Where as in Iqaluit it’s fine.” – “I hope they will get a return system with cans like we have here – it really helps."
Elsner, who spent nine days in Iqaluit for the Alianait Arts Festival, is quick to point out that, “one of the good things, over there, [is that] they are very open-hearted. They welcome people home. We’ve been welcomed into several homes — we have new friends. They want to share, especially the hunters, they want to share food. That’s a very common thing over here as well, so I like that a lot. The people who drink a lot, and do drugs, that’s a very visible thing in the streets, but there are also many people who [have] another life, have very responsible family [lives] over there, who [don’t] drink much. We’ve met those as well. So there are both sides, of course, like in Greenland...
“I remember when we were there in 2018. There’s been a lot of changes. There are more people from outside [Canada]... I kind of think that this has done something. Just like here, I think some people people feel like they are alienated in their home.
“[It’s] the small differences... the construction of buildings, looks very similar to our international airport Kangerlussuaq... but you see people are drunk, without partying, outside several places all night. And you don’t see that as much here as you do there...It was more visual this time I think, maybe because there are more people from outside [Nunavut] suddenly and in a small town like Iqaluit, it can really have some consequences on the people trying to re-adapt to their own home... but that’s a whole world issue.”
Bringing people closer together
Nunavummiut and Greenlanders are enjoying a summer of cross-cultural pollination with the new Canadian North/Air Greenland route.
“I think this flight will do a lot to bring people [in Greenland] closer to the people in Iqaluit, or in the rest of Nunavut," said Elsner.
"Also this year, there’s a huge step in music where all Greenlandic music [is] available in Canada and the rest of the world, and that’s the first time ever. We have about 500 music productions in Greenland. Now they are available on Spotify and Apple Music.
“That will also bring us closer to the people over there, I think, because they like Greenlandic music... it’s developed a lot for the last 15 years.”
Elsner credits developments in music production technology with allowing artists more freedom to experiment and produce new sounds with this boom.
“You don’t need like $100,000 to make an album anymore, so people get more creative at home, and you can sometimes hear it when people have spent many hours on their productions.
“Me and [my] band Nanook, we’ve had problems trying to get music out in Canada... so it’s a huge step that people can now hear us on Spotify. Not only us, but other bands. It’s really nice... I think we’ll get more listeners in Canada.”
Their latest album is entitled "Ilutsinniit Apuussilluta (Bringing the Message From Within)". The single Saliutitani is available on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9eNw3_xgV0.
"The song is about how the quick development in Nuuk also has had its consequences," says Elsner. "Nuuk, being the smallest capital in the world, has many big city tendencies with skyscrapers and construction all over. [The] few rich people get [richer], owning half of Nuuk, while more and more people are struggling with paying the bills. Inflation has been going fast and is not stopping soon…
So the video is quite urban with animation and footage from Nuuk – showing it can be difficult maintaining the true culture and the ancient values in such [an] environment. When people don’t adapt [to] these new times, it can sometimes make them feel alienated and result in alcoholism and other kinds of abuse as some kind of comfort. [Men] feel un-needed in the community, and if that spreads it can end tragically.
"So, the songs is quite heavy and comes from a perspective in Nuuk seeing it all from beneath…"
Speaking specifically about the influence Inuit artists have on each other, Elsner says, “When we perform at festivals, we see a lot of other artists — the way they perform, they sound and the way they write music. So of course we get influenced. And I hope we influence them as well. So it goes both ways. That’s the good thing about these festivals: many different kinds of artists meet and collaborate.
"I think it’s beautiful how much support Nunavut gets for cultural events. Inuit get good opportunities to express themselves through art and performances. It is clear that budgets are huge compared to here, and maybe that have also been an important part of getting the people coming together and obtaining their original roots. Through songs, spoken words, art it sometimes become [ok] to mention subjects you sometimes can’t in the everyday."
