Born in Ikaluktutiak (Cambridge Bay, Nunavut) in 1975, Tanya Tagaq is a internationally renowned singer, composer, and author.1 Her music is unique and experimental in how she blends traditional Inuit throat singing with various genres such as electronic, rock, and punk. 2 Having grown up in Cambridge Bay with two brothers, Tagaq endured and survived sexual assault, substance abuse, and a suicide attempt at the age of 15 while she was attending a residential school in Yellowknife. Having graduated from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design with a degree in fine art, Tagaq’s interest in throat singing began in her twenties when she lived in Halifax. While at the Great Northern Arts Festival in Inuvik, Northwest Territories, in 2000, her singing at a campfire led to her being requested to perform in the festival. Her throat singing career began when Bjork, an Icelandic singer, asked Tagaq to perform alongside her in her world tour and to sing on the album Medulla in 2004.
Retribution
Created in 2016, Retribution features ten songs, beginning with “Ajaaja” being sun entirely in Inuktitut and ending with a cover of Nirvana’s “Rape Me”. The album is harsh and unforgiving in it’s messages about rape, the abuse of the land, and in how it demands people acknowledge the abuse Indigenous peoples have faced as well as the hundreds of missing and murdered Indigenous women and people. 3
It Bears Repeating
It Bears Repeating is a children’s book written by Tanya Tagaq and illustrated by Cee Pootoogook. Published in 2024, it is a counting book that showcases polar bears and incorporates Inuktitut words within the story.4
Do Not Fear Love
From her most recent album Tongues that was released in 2022, the song “Colonizer” mixes rhythmic electronic music with Tagaq’s throat singing, creating intense and impactful music. The lyrics are simplified to Tagaq repeating ‘colonizer’ and ‘you’re guilty’ in a growled, near-screaming tone that leaves listeners with goosebumps.
Personal Reflection
I have been listening to Tanya Tagaq’s music for the last two years, ever since I was introduced to her in an Indigenous literature course where we were assigned her semi-fictional autobiography Split Tooth. The novel stuck with me in part due to its explicit nature and how she incorporated her real, lived experiences with mythology. Her music in particular has had more of an impact on me, with her album Tongues something I found to be at times disturbing and profound. Tagaq’s work in general is intense, harsh, and unforgettable in a way that will no doubt stick with me for a long time.
- Stanley, Laura. “Tanya Tagaq”. The Canadian Encyclopedia, 11 January 2019, Historica Canada. www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/tanya-tagaq. Accessed 22 April 2025. ↩︎
- Tagaq, Tanya. “About.” Tanya Tagaq. https://www.tanyatagaq.com/about. Accessed 19 April 2025. ↩︎
- Gordon, Holly. “Tanya Tagaq’s Act of Protest.” CBC, 12 October 2016. https://www.cbc.ca/music/read/tanya-tagaq-s-act-of-protest-1.5051542. Accessed 19 April 2025. ↩︎
- “It Bears Repeating.” Penguin Random House Canada. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/707031/it-bears-repeating-by-tanya-tagaq-illustrated-by-cee-pootoogook/9781774880555. Accessed 19 April 2025. ↩︎