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

Keenainak was born about 60 kilometres north of Pangnirtung.[2] Growing up, he learned traditional hunting skills.[3]

Career

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

Simeonie and Daisy Keenainak have been married since 1967.

References
  1. "Hearings underway on potential oil and gas work in eastern Nunavut waters". Nunasaiq News, 19 March 2019 by Jane George
  2. "NACO in the North: This former Mountie always hits the right note". Ottawa Citizen, Neco Cockburn, 10.29.2012
  3. "Pangnirtung, Nunavut lands its bowhead whale". CBC News, August 7, 2013
  4. Canadian Folk Music Bulletin: Inuit Accordion Music-A Better Kept Secret (PDF format, March–June 2000, by Jim Hiscott
  5. "Inuits [sic] say climate change impacts their way of life". Duluth News Tribune, Mar 25th 2007
  6. › canada › ottawa-citizen "Life in Limbo". Ottawa Citizen, 2007-11-10
  7. Mirror Writing: (re-)constructions of Native American Identity. Galda & Wilch; 2000. ISBN 978-3-931397-25-8. p. 260.
  8. 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.
  9. National Film Board of Canada, Stories from Our Land 1.5: Inngiruti - The Thing that Sings!, retrieved 14 February 2020
  10. "Stories from Our Land". Gimme Some Truth website. February 20, 2014
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