Nainip Tittulautingit, Labrador’s Only Inuit Brass Band, Keeps the Musical Tradition Alive

Project Spotlight: The 200-year-old ensemble continues to break new ground by promoting and interpreting the unique Labrador Inuit brass tradition to all audiences. 

ᓴᖅᑭᑎᑦᑎᓂᖅ ᑭᒡᒐᖅᑐᐃᔩᑦ ᓯᕗᓂᒃᓴᒥᒃ ᐱᔾᔪᑕᐅᔪᓐᓇᖅᑐᑦ
Photograph of nine Inuit holding brass instruments. They are standing in front of the main entrance to a large church made of stone and brick.

Active for two centuries, Nainip Tittulautingit is the only Labrador Inuit brass band still performing. Until the twentieth century, brass bands could be heard widely throughout Northern Labrador. First imported by Moravian missionaries, brass bands were adapted by Labrador Inuit to serve different needs. From welcoming visitors, to celebrating fiftieth birthdays to entertaining Elders, the bands moved beyond the church to become an essential feature of community life. Whatever the event was, brass bands tended to be there.

The most recent iteration of Nainip Tittulautingit has put the Labrador Inuit brass band tradition on the map. In 2015, the band was invited to perform at the 36 Brüderischer Bläsertag in Herrnhut, Saxony, Germany, the first time any band during the 200-year history of the tradition has performed internationally. In the years that followed, Nainip Tittulautingit recorded and released a self-titled album, also a first in the tradition. Featured regularly in national and international press and broadcasts, the band’s exposure helped them to land a lifetime achievement award from MusicNL, an honour it shared with the Nain Moravian Church Choir.

Now, Nainip Tittulautingit is looking towards the future. Investing in a new education, training and awareness initiative called Brass Band Workshop, the band is working hard to help other emerging bands in the region and to promote Labrador Inuit brass bands to national and international audiences on its own terms.

Photograph of nine Inuit holding brass instruments. They are standing in front of the main entrance to a large church made of stone and brick.
Nainip Tittulautingit (2016). PHOTO OSSIE MICHELIN.