Инуитское горловое пение: традиции и современность

Form of musical performance uniquely found among the Inuit

Inuit throat singing, or katajjaq (Inuktitut syllabics: ᑲᑕᔾᔭᖅ), is a distinct type of throat singing uniquely found among the Inuit. It is a form of musical performance, traditionally consisting of two women who sing duets in a close face to face formation with no instrumental accompaniment, in an entertaining contest to see who can outlast the other; however, one of the genre's most famous practitioners, Tanya Tagaq, performs as a solo artist. Several groups, including Tudjaat, The Jerry Cans, Quantum Tangle and Silla + Rise, also now blend traditional throat singing with mainstream musical genres such as pop, folk, rock and dance music. An analogous form called rekuhkara was once practiced among the Ainu of Hokkaidō, Japan.

Notable performers include Tanya Tagaq, who performs in a contemporary style, and The Jerry Cans, who incorporate throat singing by band member Nancy Mike as a musical and rhythmic element in a conventional folk rock sound and style. Traditional performers include Qaunak Mikkigak, Kathleen Ivaluarjuk Merritt, as well as Alacie Tullaugaq and Lucy Amarualik who perform in the Katajjaq style.

John Metcalf's 1990 opera Tornrak features throat singing by the Inuit characters. A scene of Inuit throat singing appears in the 1974 Timothy Bottoms film The White Dawn. The 2003 film The Snow Walker contains a scene of Inuit throat singing. The line “sing into my mouth” in the Talking Heads song “This Must Be the Place (Naïve Melody)” was inspired by a photograph of two Inuit women performing this practice. The 2001 film Atanarjuat (The Fast Runner) has a scene with Inuit throat singing. In a scene of The Simpsons Movie (2007), Homer Simpson is shown throat singing with an Inuit woman in order to have an epiphany. The 2007 film, Wristcutters: A Love Story, features a "mute" character named Nanuk who practices this style of throat singing. The 2017 film, Thoroughbreds, uses compositions recorded by Tanya Tagaq in multiple scenes, as well as in promotional material. A rather imaginative variation on throat singing is featured in the 2007 Dan Simmons novel, The Terror. Rick Mercer, in an episode of his self hosted show Rick Mercer Report, attempted to throat sing with an Inuit woman when he visited the 2008 Arctic Winter Games in Yellowknife. An August 2008 an AT&T radio commercial references kadajjat/throat singing in reference to the speaker's roommate. Icelandic musician Björk featured Tanya Tagaq heavily throughout her 2004 album Medúlla. In 2005, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra recorded The Four Seasons Mosaic CD and DVD documentary. A reinvention of Vivaldi's Four Seasons by Mychael Danna featuring Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra; Jeanne Lamon, violin; Aruna Narayan, sarangi; Wen Zhao, pipa and throat singers Aqsarniit (Sylvia Cloutier and June Shappa). The electropop band Row of Cookies incorporated a sample of Inuit throat singing in their version of the song New Girl Now by Honeymoon Suite. The British ITV documentary Billy Connolly: Journey to the Edge of the World features Billy Connolly in the Canadian Arctic. In the second episode, he visits a pair of women demonstrating the finer points of throat singing. The 2012 CBC TV drama series Arctic Air features a theme song written by Tim McCauley and performed by Tanya Tagaq, incorporating elements of traditional Inuit throat singing over a modern dance beat. A task in the seventh leg of the first season of The Amazing Race Canada required teams to listen to a traditional Inuit throat singing performance. Tanya Tagaq won the 2014 Polaris Music Prize for her album Animism. The Inuktitut language children's program Anaana's Tent has featured performances of Inuit throat singing by Celina Kalluk as part of cultural education about Inuit traditions. In November 2015, incoming Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his cabinet were sworn in by the Governor General. A pair of eleven year old Inuit girls, Samantha Metcalfe and Cailyn Degrandpre, performed throat singing at the ceremony. In January 2019, performers Eva Kaukai and Manon Chamberland premiered the short film Throat Singing in Kangirsuk (Katatjatuuk Kangirsumi) at the Sundance Film Festival. In March 2020, professional singer Caroline Novalinga and her daughter Shina Novalinga gained recognition for videos throat singing on the video sharing app TikTok. They released an album together in June 2021. Throat singing duo Iva and Angu received a Juno Award nomination for Traditional Indigenous Artist of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2023 for their album Katajjausiit.

In 2014, Nunavik throat singing (katajjaniq) became the first cultural item to be given the intangible cultural heritage designation by the government of the province of Quebec, Canada.