2024 CONTEMPORARY INDIGENOUS ARTIST OR GROUP OF THE YEAR | Elisapie | | The JUNO Awards

Elisapie’s unconditional attachment to her territory and her language, Inuktitut, remains at the core of her creative journey. Born and raised in Salluit, a small village in Nunavik which is only accessible by plane, Elisapie is an emblematic Canadian Inuk singer-songwriter. Since winning her first Juno Award in 2005 with her band Taima, Elisapie’s body of work has been praised many times. Her 2018 album The Ballad of the Runaway Girl was shortlisted for the Polaris Music Prize, earned her numerous Félix Awards, and received a nomination at the Junos. Since then, the Inuk artist performed with the Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal at the invitation of Yannick Nézet-Séguin, at the SummerStage Festival in New York City’s Central Park and in the NPR office for her own Tiny Desk Session, as well as in several venues and festivals locally and internationally. Always surrounded by the best musicians from the Montreal indie and folk scenes, Elisapie makes her culture resonate with finesse by mixing modernity and tradition.

On September 15th 2023, Elisapie released Inuktitut, her fourth solo record. On this album, the Inuk artist covers ten classic rock and pop songs ranging from the 1960’s to the 90’s translated into Inuktitut, her mother tongue. The result is an emotional, autobiographical soundtrack where each song is associated with a loved one or an intimate story.