Singing the stories of Labrador: An Inuit choir shares language and culture
Inuk Deantha Edmunds teaches hymns that were sung for more than 200 years in Nunatsiavut
Every year at Christmas, a choir comes together in St. John's to celebrate centuries-old traditions and music that are both close to their hearts and from a land far away.
Inuk soprano Deantha Edmunds, who leads the Urban Inuit Choir, teaches the hymns that Nunatsiavimuit have sung for more than 200 years in northern Labrador.
The choir first came together in 2021 and was developed with the creative vision of Edmunds, an acclaimed performer whose talnents have brought her to international stages.
This project brings her close to her roots. With help from community elders and researchers, Edmunds has spent the last three years researching and revitalizing the Christmas hymns and traditions from Labrador's Inuit and the Moravian church.
"Just over 250 years ago, Moravian missionaries came from Europe, mainly Germany, and settled along the North Coast of Labrador. While it is tragic that they banned our sacred traditions of throat singing and drum dancing, thankfully those traditions have been reclaimed and revived and are celebrated," Edmunds said.
The Inuit choir performs for a special event — Songs and Stories of Christmas in Labrador — that is designed to give the urban Inuit community the opportunity to experience the traditions of home while they live or stay in St.John's.
The songs are sung in Inutittut — the Nunatsiavut dialect of Inuktut — and the members wear their traditional Inuit coats or silipak for the candlelight service, in the Moravian tradition.
Sophie Angnatok, an Inuk drum dancer, throat singer and choir member, is from Nain but now lives in St. John's. She recalls the candlelight service in Nain in which children are each given a candle in an apple.
"I used to love Christmas because we'd have the candlelight service, which would be for the kids. So the candlelight service represents how Jesus is being born again," Angnatok said.
"So the apple is the world, and the candle — which is made of honey beeswax — and the light [are] Jesus, the light of the world."
Members of the choir are of all ages and music abilities. People don't need to have experience to join, Edmunds said, adding the choir is about much more than technical perfection.
"You just have to be an Inuk," Edmunds said. "Not everybody speaks Inuttitut. Some people are fluent, some people are just learning. you just have to come with an open heart and an open mind and a genuine appreciation for this gathering together and raising our voices."
In an interview for CBC Radio's Atlantic Voice, Edmunds said the goal is togetherness.
"It's about honouring our past, our history," she said. "It's about enjoying the language and coming together."
Daughter joining traditional singing
Edmunds is not the only talented songstress in her family. Her daughter, Annabelle Edmunds Ramsay, is carrying on the traditional music, following in the footsteps of her mother and the generations that came before.
At Songs and Stories of Christmas in Labrador, Annabelle sang a duet with another young Inuk classical singer, Mason Dicker.
"As a mom, my heart just swells with pride and love," Edmunds said.
Charlotte Winters-Fost read the opening prayer and lights the qulliq, an Inuit lamp, at the concert each year. Winters-Fost is a respected elder, an integral member of the urban Inuit community in St.John's, and someone who provides a welcoming smile and a warm hug to all while sharing her cultural teachings.
"I've been singing these hymns as a little girl and I'm very familiar with them through my grandparents and through their grandparents," she said. "So a lot of the music that you're going to be hearing tonight goes back in my history over 200 years."
The community connections and bonds that are formed through the power of sharing one voice creates a sense of pride for the community. Many members experience the feeling of "home" through these connections, Edmunds said.
Minnie Merkuratsuk, a soloist in the choir, said she feels a familiar comfort when singing with the group.
"It really does make me feel like I have a sense of family," she said.
"My heart is so full and I'm so proud to be in this choir and it makes me feel a lot closer to home."
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