CELPIP Reading Part 3 Practice Test: Inuit Throat Singing: An Ancient Vocal Game

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Among the Inuit of Canada’s Arctic, one of the most distinctive musical traditions is performed not with instruments but with breath. Known in Nunavik, in northern Quebec, as katajjaq, throat singing is traditionally performed by two women who stand face to face, often so close that they hold each other by the arms. One singer begins a short, rhythmic pattern of sounds, and her partner fills the gaps with a pattern of her own. The singers often keep their eyes on each other, since following a partner’s rhythm requires close attention. Because the sounds are produced both while breathing in and while breathing out, the result is a continuous, pulsing texture in which it can be hard to tell where one voice ends and the other begins.

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Despite its musical complexity, throat singing has traditionally been treated as a friendly game rather than a performance. The singers repeat their patterns at speed, and the contest ends when one of them runs out of breath, loses the rhythm or, very often, bursts out laughing, leaving her partner the winner. Women typically practised it in camps during the long winter months, sometimes while the men were away hunting, and it was a way to pass the time and amuse young children. Because the aim was enjoyment, there was no shame in losing; the laughter that ended a round was part of the fun. Many of the sounds echo the world around the singers, such as the calls of geese, the wind or the rush of a river, and girls picked up the patterns by listening to older women and copying them.

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During the twentieth century, the tradition came close to disappearing in many communities. Christian missionaries discouraged throat singing, along with drum dancing, regarding both as incompatible with their teachings. At the same time, many Inuit families moved from seasonal camps into permanent settlements, and children were sent to residential schools and hostels, where Inuit language and customs were suppressed. With fewer occasions to practise, knowledge of the songs came to rest with a relatively small number of elders. For a generation of young people, the sound of two women singing face to face became something they rarely, if ever, heard.

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Since the late twentieth century, however, throat singing has made a striking comeback. Young women have sought out elders to learn the old patterns, community workshops have helped pass them on, and pairs of singers now appear at festivals and concerts across Canada and abroad. It is now common to hear throat singing at community celebrations, school events and national gatherings. Some contemporary artists have gone further, combining throat singing with electronic, rock or orchestral music. Not everyone welcomes every change; some elders stress that the tradition grew out of play and connection, not out of a desire to entertain an audience. Yet even on large stages, when two singers collapse into laughter, listeners are reminded that it began as a game.