Inuk artist Elisapie to be celebrated with postage stamp

Inuk artist Elisapie is one of three Indigenous leaders who will be celebrated on National Indigenous Peoples Day with the launch of new postage stamps.

Canada Post made the announcement on Thursday.

The stamp featuring Elisapie will be unveiled on June 13.

An award-winning singer-songwriter, actor, director, producer and activist from Salluit, Nunavik, Elisapie won the 2024 Juno award for contemporary Indigenous artist or group of the year for her most recent album, Inuktitut, a collection of classic pop and rock songstranslated into Inuktitut.

She had previously won the Indigenous music Juno in 2005 as a member of the duo Taima, and her 2018 solo album, Ballad of the Runaway Girl, was short-listed for the Polaris Music Prize.

'Raising awareness of Inuit language, heritage and culture'

"Singing and writing in Inuktitut, English and French, she has devoted her life to raising awareness of Inuit language, heritage and culture through her many artistic endeavours," Canada Post wrote about Elisapie, in a news release announcing the three new stamps.

The other two peoplefeatured in the upcoming stamp set are Mtis artist Christi Belcourt and the late pioneering First Nations water protector Josephine Mandamin. Those stamp designs will be unveiled later this month.

The set is the third in Canada Post's Indigenous Leaders stamp series, which was launched in 2022.

It was,according to the postal service,created to highlight the contributions of modern-day First Nations, Inuit and Mtis leaders who have dedicated their lives to preserving their cultures and improving the quality of life of Indigenous peoples in Canada.