Nunavik syllabics
For Beatrice Deer, creativity started at a young age. The singer-songwriter and visual artist from Quaqtaq, Nunavik, QC, began sewing and making music in her early teens, releasing her first album in 2004. Fast forward two decades and Deer is now a multi-nominated musician with seven albums under her belt and an eighth on the way, a successful beader and designer who has made garments for Her Excellency the Right Honourable Mary Simon, CC, CMM, COM, and an ambitious producer who has produced, directed and hosted countless innovative TV shows and podcast episodes, including many in Inuktitut. In this conversation, the IAQ chats with Deer about her impressive creative journey, reflecting on her 20-year evolution as an artist and multimedia producer.
Inuit Art Quarterly: When did you start working creatively?
Beatrice Deer: I started sewing when I was 13 years old and I never stopped. Then I started making music at 15. I wrote my first song with my cousin Jaaji from the band Twin Flames. He was playing guitar and we made the words together. For a very long time I just wrote melodies and lyrics for my songs that I made with my ex-husband for… around 12 years. I formed Beatrice Deer Band after my divorce and I’ve been with them since 2012.
Portrait of Beatrice Deer, 2023 photo Christyna Pelletier
IAQ: How many albums have you made?
BD: Seven—Just Bea (2004), a self-titled album Beatrice Deer (2010), An Arctic Christmas (2010), Fox (2015), My All To You (2018), SHIFTING (2021) and Little Songs (2023), and I’m working on my eighth right now. We’ll release it in 2025.
IAQ: How exciting!
BD: Very exciting.
Beatrice Deer performing at Montreal First Peoples Festival, Montreal, QC, 2018 PHOTO Daniel Haber
IAQ: Has your music changed a lot since the beginning of your career?
BD: Very much. With my life experience, my evolution. I’ve grown a lot emotionally, I’ve healed a lot too. Vocally, I can say that I’m a better singer than when I was young and also have an amazing band who are exceptional musicians. My music has definitely changed.
IAQ: You worked at Taqramiut Nipingat Incorporated (TNI) for quite a while. What role did that have in your career?
Beatrice Deer behind the scenes at TNI, 2016courtesy the artist
BD: Before I became an official employee for TNI, I was doing contract work for them as a TV show host and was doing voiceover work. Then I applied for the role of Director of Television Production and Post-Production around 2016. I was already a musician when I applied for the job, which TNI knew. I told them that I would really love the support from my employer when I had to go away on gigs, so we made an agreement where I was able to travel for my music as long as I met my deadlines in television production.
Behind the scenes at TNI, 2019 photo Patrick Paré
TNI really gave me the work ethic and the work experience to plan for television production, to travel in the North to produce TV shows and to really look for things that I want the people of Nunavik to learn about. I focused a lot on [the topics of] physical and mental health when I was producing TV shows, as well as cultural activities. That experience of being both in front of and behind the camera, directing and producing TV shows, led to the creation of my own podcast Northerned, which was released in 2024, also in video format.
IAQ: What, if anything, do you think launched your career as an artist and performer? Was it your hard work accumulating until you felt you were a success? Or did you attend or perform at a specific event that made you feel like you had “made it”?
BD: It’s over 20 years of consistent work, from tiny little performances to bigger and bigger ones.
I really felt like in the summer of 2024 I had my biggest performances as an artist, if you’re looking at the scale of the audience and the stage. I was at la Fête nationale concert on June 23 and the Plaines de chansons concert on July 26, both at the Plains of Abraham in Quebec City, QC, with the province’s biggest stars. But it’s never just one thing. It’s an accumulation of over 20 years of work and passion. And taking every opportunity that I can to get experience in this field, right?
Beatrice Deer throat singing for Diane Dufresne at the Plaines de chansons concert on the Plains of Abraham, Quebec City, QC, 2024 photo YAN TURCOTTE
IAQ: You’re well known for music, but you’ve also been sewing for a long time. I know that you make beautiful beadwork as well. Can you tell me about these other mediums?
BD: I’ve always loved sewing since I was a kid. I’ve done illustrations. I did a bit of graphic design school in college in 2007, even if I didn’t complete the program. I did over two years of that until I dropped out because of personal struggle. I’ve dabbled in painting and drawing.
IAQ: Do you see any overlap in the different mediums you work in?
BD: I like to wear what I make when I’m performing, like my traditional contemporary garments, especially on a large stage. There’s one top that I made with shiny gold-and-black fabric with a traditional pattern, but very modern in that it’s form fitting. I have also designed a few of my album covers. For Fox, I used my late sister Janice Deer’s (1972–1989) drawing of a woman kneeling playing a traditional game with a fox skull, trying to pin a needle through the skull. It’s a black-and-white drawing and I designed the bold, graphic turquoise and yellow background.
Album artwork for Beatrice Deer’s album Fox (2015)
IAQ: Most people have learned to sew from their grandmothers and mothers. Was anyone in particular instrumental to your sewing education?
BD: I was watching my mother and my auntie. There was Christina Kleist, a friend who taught me how to sew when I was a young teenager. There was Daisy Tukkiapik-Angnatuk (1966–2024), my nanny when I was born, who taught me how to make the amauti. It’s so special to me that she taught me how to make it. Learning different techniques from different women and just observing the women who have taught me. Also, learning from my own mistakes and trial and error. . . . It’s always humbling. You can’t be too confident when it comes to sewing.
Beatrice Deer, wearing her own design, and Arsaniq Deer performing at Aqpik Jam Music Festival, Kuujjuaq, Nunavik, QC, 2024 photo CHARLIE SHIPALUK
IAQ: Can you tell me about your puppet work with TNI? Was it a new kind of challenge, or was it in line with your existing skill set?
BD: Oh, the puppets. I had never come across any puppets in my career, but I was trying to create a TV show that was educational for Inuit teenagers—something relatable and funny but that leaves an impression. Inuit-looking puppets didn’t exist, so I had to make them. I went on YouTube and found tutorials. I bought all the materials and made the three puppets—Siasi, Noah and Masik. I created the characters and wrote and directed all the episodes of Uvikkauvugut – Puppet Show (2019–2023) with the team—I really couldn’t have done it without them. I also found an experienced puppeteer, Anne Lalancette, to teach the crew. For the first season I insisted on having Inuit puppeteers and they were trained by Anne.
I had no idea how difficult it was going to be to make a puppet show, but with everyone’s patience and hard work, it turned out to be a very good show. The teenagers loved it. The show dealt with different topics, like teen pregnancy, social media etiquette, bullying and all of the different social issues that we see a lot in the North, and how to cope and deal with them in a healthy way.
Behind the scenes of Uvikkauvugut – Puppet Show (2019–2023)courtesy beatrice deer
IAQ: That’s great. And it was all in Inuktitut?
BD: Yes, and they’re available on YouTube. I had different guests on, Inuit role models to talk about each topic, like Deseray Cumberbatch, an Inuit Games athlete. She told me that when she went back to her community, the kids were so impressed that she actually spoke to Noah the puppet. We also had Jason Annahatak come on to talk about jealousy and toxic relationship prevention.
Behind the scenes of Uvikkauvugut – Puppet Show (2019–2023)courtesy beatrice deer
IAQ: What has been the most fulfilling creative work you’ve done?
BD: I’ve done so much—if only one thing was fulfilling, then I would have stopped. Each thing fulfills me in its own way. I’m always up to something and always want to make something. Right now, we’re into making music for TV shows and movies, so that’s a lot of fun. And that’s separate from my own music. My work is always evolving. I have dreams and aspirations—I want to be a fashion designer with a fashion line. I’m going to keep making music. . . . I’m my own company, so I want to grow as a business owner.
Behind the scenes at TNI, 2019 photo beatrice deer
IAQ: Creativity in general is fulfilling.
BD: Yeah. And I just want to show my deep appreciation for the support that I get from everywhere, from all people from all over the place that help me and my career, because I wouldn’t be where I am without that.
Beatrice Deer is a singer-songwriter and visual artist from Quaqtaq. Her music is a combination of traditional Inuit throat singing and indie pop rock. Deer is invested in maintaining her cultural traditions while also incorporating contemporary artistic practices into her music.
This piece originally appeared in the spring 2025 issue of the Inuit Art Quarterly.