Nunavut singer Riit releases her 1st music video

Her sound is electronic, but Rita Claire Mike-Murphy's first music video is about showing Inuit culture.

"It's very, very simple, but it felt very good," said the performer, who also goes by her stage name Riit.

Mike-Murphy, who is also a throat singer, is from Pangnirtung, Nunavut, and now lives in Iqaluit. The video for her single Qaumajuapik was filmed after she wrapped the second season of Anaana's Tent, an Inuktitut and English-language kids show she hosts on APTN. 

"I'm loving being able to deliver a TV show and delivering music in my mother tongue, Inuktitut," she said.

"It's something that I am very proud to do and something I am happy to be doing. It's a pretty fantastic job to have for sure."

Qaumajuapik means "you are shining" in Inuktitut. The video features caribou skins, traditional Inuit tattoos, and the lighting of a qulliq, a traditional Inuit lamp.

Have a look at Riit's video:

Mike-Murphy is working on her debut album that she recorded in May. She said her new music is a dedication to her father who died five years ago. It also deals with some heavy topics.

"In the album there are songs about residential school, intergenerational trauma, sexual abuse," Mike-Murphy said.

She said there are also some cover songs by "legendary Inuktitut song writers," including Northern Haze.

Her team is working to finish up the artwork on the album. She hopes that it will be out in the fall.