Simeonie Keenainak
Simeonie Keenainak is an Inuit accordionist and retired RCMP officer from Pangnirtung, Nunavut, Canada. He is also a photographer, teacher and hunter.[1] He has performed at the Pangnirtung Music Festival and was featured in regional and national media for his musicianship and cultural community efforts.
Early life[edit]
Keenainak was born about 60 kilometres north of Pangnirtung.[2] Growing up, he learned traditional hunting skills.[3]
Career[edit]
Keenainak began acting as a guide for the RCMP, and later became a constable.[2] He also performed around the north on the accordion; in 1996 he participated in the CBC's Inuit Button Accordion Festival.[4]
After retiring from the police force, Keenainak worked as a high school shop teacher,[2][5] began teaching traditional skills to young people,[6] and became involved in nature photography.[7] He continued to hunt and to play on the accordion, including a 2012 performance with the National Arts Centre Orchestra.[8]
A 2012 short documentary about Inuit music, Inngiruti - The Thing that Sings!, in which Keenainak performs and is interviewed, was filmed by Nyla Innuksuk through the National Film Board.[9][10]
In 2019 he represented the local hunters' association at hearings about oil and gas development in the arctic.[1]
Personal[edit]
Simeonie and Daisy Keenainak have been married since 1967.
References[edit]
- ^ a b "Hearings underway on potential oil and gas work in eastern Nunavut waters". Nunasaiq News, 19 March 2019 by Jane George
- ^ a b c "NACO in the North: This former Mountie always hits the right note". Ottawa Citizen, Neco Cockburn, 10.29.2012
- ^ "Pangnirtung, Nunavut lands its bowhead whale". CBC News, August 7, 2013
- ^ Canadian Folk Music Bulletin: Inuit Accordion Music-A Better Kept Secret (PDF format, March–June 2000, by Jim Hiscott
- ^ "Inuits [sic] say climate change impacts their way of life". Duluth News Tribune, Mar 25th 2007
- ^ › canada › ottawa-citizen "Life in Limbo". Ottawa Citizen, 2007-11-10
- ^ Mirror Writing: (re-)constructions of Native American Identity. Galda & Wilch; 2000. ISBN 978-3-931397-25-8. p. 260.
- ^ Sarah Jennings. Art and Politics: The History of the National Arts Centre, Second Edition. MQUP; 17 October 2019. ISBN 978-0-7735-5995-0. p. 399.
- ^ National Film Board of Canada, Stories from Our Land 1.5: Inngiruti - The Thing that Sings!, retrieved 14 February 2020
- ^ "Stories from Our Land". Gimme Some Truth website. February 20, 2014
External links[edit]
- Legislative Assembly of Nunavut: comments by Hon. Jack Anawak (PDF format, 1 November 2002, p1507)