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LLOYDMINSTER - Juno award winning artist Susan Aglukark was given a rousing welcome as she stepped on stage at Lloydminster's Holy Rosary high school on Nov. 27 to deliver a performance to all the students within the Lloydminster Catholic School Division (LCSD) and guests from Onion Lake First Nation and North Battleford. During the presentation, Aglukark sang personal favourites including her first hit song, O'Siem, and gave a motivational talk that was a big hit with her youthful audience.
"The only difference between me and you is that more people know me. You can do anything you want to with your life," Aglukark told the students.
She also shared with them a powerful message about her struggle as an artist and her search for identity.
"I waited so long to get completely comfortable with myself and struggled for many years in a business that focuses on selling an image. I'm not about image and that was a bit of a struggle," she said.
As an Inuit singer/songwriter whose work reflects a unique blend of Inuktitut and English, Aglukark has faced pressure and expectations from a mainstream music industry to produce popular songs. It was Aglukark's refusal to conform that led her to write and record O'Siem.
"I decided to write what feels right, what feels good. It was not written to chart. It was written to feel good."
Aglukark told the students that her life has been full of unexpected twists, turns and surprises.
"I grew up in a small village of 1,200 people and five churches and there was always a struggle with that, to try and find a balance between culture and religion and live within that balance. My daddy was a preacher and we always sang gospel songs, but I never thought I would become a famous person writing and singing songs."
Aglukark described how she 'fell into her singing career' while taking ground schooling to become an airplane pilot after the independent release of her first album, Arctic Rose.
"I always loved storytelling and writing about my culture but had planned to become a pilot. Songwriting is a labour of love that doesn't make a lot of money, even with 200 songs written and a million records sold," Susan Aglukark said.
It was not until she wrote the popular Hina Na Ho, based on an old Dene song from Yellowknife, that Aglukark felt connected to a cause.
"It was written to find a way for the wall to come down in the fight against racism and prejudice, saying what I wanted to say, the way I wanted to say it."
Aglukark told her audience that she had encountered a lot of self-doubt in committing to a career as a songwriter and recording artist.
"I was convinced that one person could not make a difference and that all the work was not worth it. We spend too much time doubting ourselves, focusing on our weaknesses and inabilities and not about the good things about us. I had to embrace my career."
Even with a platinum album, This Child, and several Junos under her belt, Aglukark found herself in a dark place.
"I saw a lot of brokenness in the Aboriginal communities. I was really scared to get back out there. I had a breakdown and fell apart. It took a long time to get back into it. I had to want to recover, want this career and to stay out of that dark place. One of the things holding me back was that I had to write for radio and television and impress my record label."
It was not until she wrote the single Stand Up that Aglukark really embraced her career. The song spun out a message of healing, "of being who I want to be and finding the confidence to stand up for what I wanted in my songs," she said. That helped get her back on her feet.
"What you hear is a lot of my own ideas, which might not be much but they are mine," she said, sharing a message of hope and personal affirmation with the students.
To end her musical presentation, Aglukark sang two selections from her new album Big Feeling, a song for the girls called Crystal House and one written to encourage young men called Ti Gods.
"You have to trust all those confusing feelings you have as teenagers-the fire in your belly, the desire to set something up in your life, your goals and dreams. Just trust them. Don't set them aside; don't bury them," Aglukark said.
The students cheered and gave Aglukark a standing ovation as Cree student Page Faithful presented her with a bouquet of yellow roses. Then more than 100 young fans lined up for an autograph and picture-taking session with their special guest.
"Both the LCSD kids and teachers were star struck by Susan Aglukark's presentation," said Teresa Rowland, Aboriginal liaison with the school district who had spearheaded the initiative to bring Aglukark to Lloydminster.
"We also had 22 pen pals from Onion Lake First Nation who had invited us to their interschool powwow and what better way to show our appreciation that to invite them to this performance. And Metis school councilor Mel Gervais from John Paul Catholic school in North Battleford brought his Grade 9 students and we had many positive comments," said Rowland.
"She is an Aboriginal superstar making a huge impact and this is important for our Aboriginal kids to experience," Rowland said of Aglukark." She loves to sing and realizes the difference she can make as a role model and an inspiration and that is pretty powerful."
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