Willie Thrasher
Willie Thrasher is an Inuk singer-songwriter from Aklavik, Northwest Territories. Born in 1948 into the traditional Inuit culture of the western Arctic, his father was a whaler and hunter.
At age five, Thrasher was taken from his family and sent to a residential school where he was forbidden from practicing his cultural traditions. In the mid-1960s he was a drummer for the Cordells, a ground-breaking Inuit rock band. During one performance, an elderly man approached Thrasher and suggested that his band tap into their Inuk culture and language. This prompted Thrasher to begin writing more personal songs about his life, his people, and the environment. In the early 1980s, Thrasher produced two recordings with the CBC Northern Service: Spirit Child, a full-length studio album of original songs, and Sweet Grass, a live recording with fellow Indigenous musicians Willy Mitchell, Morley Loon, and Roger House. His third album, Asumatak – The Great Land, was released in 2009. Willie was prominently featured on the 2015 Grammy-nominated compilation Native North America (Vol. 1): Aboriginal Folk, Rock, and Country 1966-1985. Today, Willie is in demand for his energetic concerts, performing with his partner Linda Saddleback on drums. His legacy as an Inuit music pioneer continues.
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Speak Up! is curated by David McLeod (member of the Pine Creek First Nation, MB), Indigenous programming consultant.