{"id":107797,"date":"2026-08-12T16:25:05","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T20:25:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=107797"},"modified":"2026-08-12T16:25:05","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T20:25:05","slug":"aqpik-jam-kicks-off-30th-anniversary-with-music-culture-and-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/12\/aqpik-jam-kicks-off-30th-anniversary-with-music-culture-and-community\/","title":{"rendered":"Aqpik Jam kicks off 30th anniversary with music, culture and community"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Dominique Gen\u00e9, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunatsiaq News Kuujjuaq came alive Tuesday evening with music, cheers and laughter as hundreds filled Katittavik Townhall to kick off Aqpik Jam\u2019s 30th year. Led by instructors Janice Parsons Gordon and Sandy Emudluk, the Kuujjuaq Youth Group opened the festival with throat singing and drumming. Applause rose from the arena floor to the upper level bleachers as the 11 boys and girls showed off their skills. Clusters of golden cloudberries decorated the stage, a nod to the northern berry harvest that gives the festival its name. The next act was Johnny Saunders, under the artist name Yaa, and his band. They performed songs in Inuktitut from his latest self-titled EP, including Lily-Anna, which is dedicated to his granddaughter. Saunders also covered Maybe It\u2019s… <\/p>\n

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By Dominique Gen\u00e9, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunatsiaq News Kuujjuaq came alive Tuesday evening with music, cheers and laughter as hundreds filled Katittavik Townhall to kick off Aqpik Jam\u2019s 30th year. Led by instructors Janice Parsons Gordon and Sandy Emudluk, the Kuujjuaq Youth Group opened the festival with throat singing and drumming. Applause rose from the arena floor to the upper level bleachers as the 11 boys and girls showed off their skills. Clusters of golden cloudberries decorated the stage, a nod to the northern berry harvest that gives the festival its name. The next act was Johnny Saunders, under the artist name Yaa, and his band. They performed songs in Inuktitut from his latest self-titled EP, including Lily-Anna, which is dedicated to his granddaughter. Saunders also covered Maybe It\u2019s... <\/p>\n

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Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-107797","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-level-8","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"\nAqpik Jam kicks off 30th anniversary with music, culture and community - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/12\/aqpik-jam-kicks-off-30th-anniversary-with-music-culture-and-community\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Aqpik Jam kicks off 30th anniversary with music, culture and community - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Dominique Gen\u00e9, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunatsiaq News Kuujjuaq came alive Tuesday evening with music, cheers and laughter as hundreds filled Katittavik Townhall to kick off Aqpik Jam\u2019s 30th year. 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