Posted on Mar 28, 2019

Elisapie Revisits Her Inuit Roots In 'The Ballad Of The Runaway Girl'

PO1 William "Chip" Nagel

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At the northern tip of Quebec, tucked in a valley and hugging the ocean, is the Inuit community of Salluit where the singer-songwriter Elisapie grew up. At age 19, she left to settle in Montreal — a decision she's still grappling with 20 years later.

She examines her connection to the land and people of her birth, and the traumas they've endured over the last half-century, on her latest album, The Ballad of the Runaway Girl.

"I never really knew how to make peace with the fact that I left," Elisapie says. "Not only did I leave my community, I left my family, I left my mother who was sick, I left my brothers and sisters who were younger than me. So I think this album is based on the fact that I want to find those traces of my childhood in order to really understand a little bit more who I am."

Elisapie Revisits Her Inuit Roots In 'The Ballad Of The Runaway Girl'

Posted from npr.org

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Lt Col Charlie Brown

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I think that happens to a lot of native Americans. Torn between native villages or reservations and places where they can make a living

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If they are on the reservation, depression, drinking and groupthink of having hopelessness leads into a lot of suicides. Think this is fake news? Think again! My wife recently had a feast on the 4th anniversary of one of her cousins who shot herself in the face because she was despondent over some idiot male. She was drinking as well. In the last five years, at least four of my wife's relatives have committed suicide. Mostly cousins, nieces and nephews. Pot is now legal in Canada so I expect that drug abuse and suicides are going to continue. My wife is 100% Cree Indian. Most of her relatives live on the reserve but many successful ones live off-reserve. Drugs and alcohol are common and low self-esteem. Even living off the reserve is no guarantee because my two stepdaughters in the early twenties got hooked on drugs, drinking and they both dropped out of school. Both of them are on welfare which is pretty easy to get here in Canada and they don't relieve bug you to show progress in your job search so these people just use the money to buy fast food, buy alcohol and buy concert tickets. They also buy drugs as well. It's a really sad vicious circle. If you have a drinking or drug problem, contact Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous.

https://www.aa.org/