Elisapie Isaac is a Canadian Indigenous Inuk musician, broadcaster, documentary filmmaker, activist, and actress whose unconditional attachment to her territory and language, Inuktitut, remains at the core of her creative journey.
Elisapie was born and raised in Salluit, a small village in Nunavik, the northern region of Quebec. In this community accessible only by plane, she was raised by an extended caring, yet slightly dysfunctional, adoptive family. Growing up there she lived through the loss of cousins who ended their lives, experienced young love, witnessed first hand the effects of colonialism, and danced the night away at the village’s community center.
As a teenager, Elisapie began performing on stage with her uncles, who were themselves members of a famous Inuit rock ’n’ roll band named Sugluk (also known as Salluit Band). During the same time, she worked at the village’s radio station which broadcast all over Nunavik, and managed to secure an interview with Metallica at age 15. She moved to Montreal as a bright and ambitious young woman to study and, ultimately, pursue a career in music.ince then, her work has always integrated Inuit themes and rock music. Today, Elisapie is an emblematic Canadian Inuk singer-songwriter.
Since winning her first Juno Award in 2005 with Taima, her band at the time, Elisapie’s body of work has been frequently praised. 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. Following this critically acclaimed album, Elisapie 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.
For this concert, Elisapie will perform from her latest album Inuktitut, which covers 10 classic rock and pop songs from the 1960s to the 90s, 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. Acclaimed by audiences and critics alike, Inuktitut is the artist’s second album to land a shortlist nomination for the Polaris Music Prize. Its success also earned Elisapie two Juno Awards and five awards at the 2024 ADISQ Gala.