It’s been more than a 100 days since the community of Arviat went into strict lockdown – Young people like Ted Thompson are forced to stay home to prevent the spread of COVI19. The 19 year wasted no time and used the stay-at-home order to write a song about some issues faced by Inuit. The song quickly reached more than a thousand views on YouTube.
Thompson who recently turned 19 years old wrote on issues like Inuit being forced not to speak Inuktitut at residential schools more than 50 years ago. He speaks about the some of the impacts Inuit faced when they were relocated by the government of Canada to claim sovereignty of the Arctic. In his rap song Thompson mentions the residential school and what forced Inuit children faced including punishment for speaking Inuktitut to the teachers and incidents like rape and escaping the residential schools. “I’ve been a fan of hip hop for quite some time now… but hearing Brian’s “The Struggle” was one of the big things that inspired me to write about us Inuit and I came out with “Life For the Inuit”” Thompson wrote.
“To me personally, it’s everything for me.. losing the ability to play hockey and go to school really got to me but nothing helped me as much as music did”
Konek Productions 