Susan Aglukark shares her Inuk heritage with Saskatoon youth

Responsibility was a recurring theme throughout the stories Susan Aglukark shared with a group of youth in Saskatoon at the Broadway Theatre.

The Inuk recording artist gave a 90-minute multimedia performance full of stories, music and videos as part ofthe Scene Youth Media Festival.

"My responsibility, I feel now, is giving them a glimpse so that they can take it home and do their own research, and then form and share those stories."

Aglukark who grew up in Arviat, Nunavut used the multimedia presentation to tell the youth in attendance her own story of growing up in the Arctic and relocating to Ottawa, eventually launching her music career.

"It was a conscious effort to have them leave with a knowing that all of the different aboriginal communities whether they be First Nations, Inuit or Mtis have a rich history. We have a very rich background."

Aglukark used snippets of video throughout her presentation to highlight the Arctic, her ancestral homeland that she visits "a couple times a year." Again, she felt a certain responsibility to do so.

"We have a responsibility ourselves to ourselves to honour that past and who we were as a traditional people."

The crowd at the dimly-lit Broadway Theatre watched intently as Aglukark performed her songs with video backdrops behind her. There were a few moments where she was looking at herself in music videos from a couple of decades ago.

When asked about this, Aglukark chuckled.

"It's always neat to see yourself 20 years ago and how you are now today. But you know what? I love my life. I love every stage of it."