'Keep speaking the language,' says Juno-nominated Inuk musician Riit

When Riit found out she was nominated for a Juno for Best Indigenous Artist or Group of the Year, it brought up mixed emotions. 

"It felt really good, I mean, I hoped that I would be nominated for the pop category as well," the Inuk musician said from Pangnirtung, Nunavut.  

Riit said all the albums featured in the category are strong contenders, but their styles vary greatly. 

"All of the music that we play are very, very different genres of music, and as an Indigenous artist I feel a little bit put into a category," said Riit, who is undecided on if the category should be scrapped.

"I'm just afraid that if that [category] were to be removed, will any Indigenous artist get nominated at all?" 

Her album, ataataga, tackles everything from breakups, and the Me Too movement, to intergenerational trauma. While some of the themes are universal, Riit hopes her music will highlight her unique Inuit perspective, which in part she does by singing exclusively in Inuktitut.

"I grew up speaking [Inuktitut], it was my mother tongue, so I'm most comfortable in Inuktitut," she said. 

"I want to encourage the younger generation to keep speaking the language and if they don't speak it anymore, to learn it." 

The album title, ataataga, translates in English to "my father," which is a tribute to her father who passed away five years ago from cancer. Riit said he was an Irish musician, who inspired her to get into music. 

"I wanted to dedicate this record to him especially because he passed away just as I was starting my music career, so he never really got to see where I went, and where I've been going [with my music]," said Riit. 

"I always tell people that he kind of scolded me … [to] add some English lyrics in there, and he also hated pop music. I always joke that maybe he would hate my music," she said laughing.