Meet the Inuit throat singers revitalizing the tradition and engaging new audiences [Video]

Sisters Tiffany Ayalik and Inuksuk McKay were children when they first learned the Inuit cultural practice of throat singing.  

“If you ask a kid when they first learn to do ABC’s, they probably wouldn’t be able to tell you exactly when. It was just a normal part of childhood for us,” says McKay.

Together the sisters make up the electronic throat singing duo, PIQSIQ [pronounced pilk-silk]. The duo’s roots stem from Nunavut but they grew up in Yellowknife, N.W.T.,

Throat singing is a musical tradition, a bonding activity and a game that involves two women, standing face-to-face, testing their vocal agility and improvisation skills.

Like many other Inuit and Indigenous traditions, throat singing almost went extinct due to colonialist pressures from the Canadian government and the Catholic Church. But today, it’s being revived and even reimagined by a new generation of Inuit youth as part of a larger cultural renaissance …