PIQSIQ

Tiffany Kuliktana Ayalik and Kayley Inuksuk Mackay, come together to create Inuit style throat singing duo, PIQSIQ, performing ancient traditional songs and eerie new compositions. Creative BC's Career Development program supported the creation of two music videos to promote their new album (to be released in 2021). This will be their first full length album; "We are designing our own original instrument made from a caribou skull that will feature prominently in the videos further engaging and connecting our audience to our culture." PIQSIQ has been nominated for a Western Canadian Music Award for Indigenous Artist of the Year!

With roots in Nunavut’s Kitikmeot and Kivalliq Regions, the sisters grew up in Yellowknife, NWT and are now living in BC. These environmental extremes had a huge impact on Tiffany and Kayley’s overall aesthetic and their soudtracks reflect this natural phenomenon.

PIQSIQ’s name stems from the sisters’ shared feelings of confusion regarding their identities growing up. In Inuktut, a “piqsiq” is a type of storm where winds blow in a very specific way, making it look like the snow is falling back up towards the sky. Being children of blended backgrounds, born into two very different worlds, Kayley and Tiffany always felt they had to navigate strange cultural waters, but have learned to embrace the joys and challenges of mixed Indigeneity today. The sisters have found comfort in the thought that “two halves make a whole.” 

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