Tanya Tagaq

Tanya Tagaq w/Jenna Broomfield, Photographer: Levi Manchak, CC 2.0

Canadian Inuk throat singer and experimental musician • Born May 5th, 1975 • Indigenous, avant-garde, experimental music

Fast Facts

• Tanya’s mother is Inuk and her father is of British and Polish descent
• Tanya Tagaq is an Inuk throat singer which involves pushing her voice to the limits of the human larynx to produce drum-like grunts and growls
• Tagaq has contributed to what is called the “Indigenous music renaissance” in Canada as she incorporates traditional throat singing with her avant-garde musical style
• Tagaq uses her music and performances to be an activist for issues such as Indigenous rights, Idle No More movement, the inquiry in missing and murdered Aboriginal women, and climate change
• Tagaq has won a Juno Award, Canadian Aboriginal Music Award, a Polaris Music Prize, Western Music Award, Canadian Folk Music Award, ImagineNative Film + Media Arts Festival award, and is a Member of the Order of Canada
• She attempted suicide while attending residential school in Yellowknife when she was 15 years old
• Tagaq has performed with other notable artists including Björk, the Kronos Quartet and Derek Charke
• She is the author of novel, Split Tooth, published in 2018