The Recording of Willie Thrasher

• Main Author: Thrasher, Willie
• Format: Moving Image (Video)
• Language: English
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: Inuvik; Aklavik; inuit; Inuvialuit
• Online Access: http://summit.sfu.ca/item/16785

A documentary following the career of Willie Thrasher, an Inuk singer-songwriter from Aklavik, Inuvik. Atfive, Thrasher was taken from his family and sent to a residential schoolwhere he was forbidden to practice his Inuvialuit culture. In themid-1960s, he drummed for the Cordells, one of the first Inuit rock bands.One evening, a stranger recommended that the group tap into theirAboriginal roots instead of the charts for inspiration. This promptedThrasher to write songs about his life, people, and the environment (asheard on 1981’sSpirit ChildLP, CBC). Thrasher currently performs withhis partner Linda Saddleback and is featured on Light in the Attic Records’internationally acclaimedNative North America (Vol. 1): Aboriginal Folk,Rock, and Country 1966-1985. Willie and Linda are trailblazing troubadourswith an Indigenous heartbeat sound.