Members
The majority of the group resides in Ottawa, Canada's capital city. Emily Karpik has moved back to her home community of Pannirtuuq but will perform when viable. Group members has been part of Siqiniup Qilauta/Sunsdrum since the group formed in 2001 with the recruitments of Kendra Tagoona and David Joanasie over the years.


Emily Qattu Paniga Karpik
Born in Iqaluit, Nunavut and raised in Pannirtuuq (Pangnirtung),Nunavut. Song and dance has always been part of her life growing up in the small Inuit community of Pangnirtung. She started to learn to throat sing as a teenager in Pangnirtung and began to develop it further when she moved to Ottawa. She was involved in training for throat singing and drum dancing in Ottawa and with the knowledge she already had she quickly and easily became an accomplished Inuit performer. She is a fluent speaker of Inuktitut, the language of Inuit people and she has a deep understanding of Inuit culture and way of life. Her performance background includes: touring Newfoundland and Labrador, performing in Nunavut, Mexico City, Japan, Norway and numerous performances with Siqiniup Qilauta. Performances brought this young girl to travel to many places, allowing her to share her knowledge of Inuit people to numerous people all over.
Tracy Aasivak Brown
Born in Iqaluit, Nunavut and originally from Pannirtuuq (Pangnirtung), Nunavut. Her training as a throat singer/drum dancer began through a series of performance lessons in Ottawa. She also learned by the traditional Inuit way of learning, which is to observe and practice on your own. Tracy realizes that the style of performing she does is more contemporary than it was in the past but she and the other group members try their best at retaining traditional aspects of Inuit music while blending it with modern expressions. Throat singing and drum dancing gave Tracy opportunities to perform for Prime Minister Jean Chrétien and to travel to various places for festivals and events all around Canada and in Netherlands, Norway and Iceland.

Emily Arnainnuk Kotierk
Born in Iqaluit, Nunavut and raised in Iglulik (Igloolik), Nunavut until 1990 when her family moved to Ottawa to pursue further education. Emily has a dynamic personality that naturally sheds light when she performs. She started performing by being involved in the performance lessons offered at Tungasuvvingat Inuit, an Inuit centre in Ottawa. The group members of Siqiniup Qilauta relies on her to get the audience laughing and participating because her outgoing and charismatic personality makes people smile and enjoy the show. One of the many things Emily enjoys about performances is gaining new friends at various places she performs. She especially likes performing at Pow-Wows and other Aboriginal festivals. Some performances she has been at has been: Cape Crocker Pow Wow, Owen Sound Pow Wow, Great Northern Arts Festival, Norway, Mexico and along with the numerous Ottawa performances with Siqiniup Qilauta.

Lynda Qaqasirija Brown
Born in Iqaluit, Nunavut and originally from Pannirtuuq (Pangnirtung), Nunavut. Lynda believes in the continuation of Inuit culture and heritage. She has studied Native Studies at Trent University and holds of Bachelor of Arts in psychology. She has seen Inuit performance arts go through resurgence and is proud that she can continue song and dance for her two young children to learn. Lynda has trained as a performer through cultural performance lessons in Ottawa but some of the most valuable teachings was from learning through her close ties with the Inuit community in Ottawa with her job at Inuit Head Start. There are many Inuit that live in Ottawa that are from diverse Arctic communities allowing Lynda to learn different songs and throat songs from various Inuit communities. Lynda's most honoured performances has been for Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, travelling to Inuvik at the Great Northern Arts Festival, the International Folk Festival in Norway and the various places all around Canada.

 


Also performing with Siqiniup Qilauta: Kendra Tagoona and David Joanasie. Bios to follow.

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