Susan Aglukark says her 35-year journey in the music business taught her exactly who she is and she’s proud to have learned from the “ups and downs of life in the business.” 

The Inuk singer-songwriter from Arviat, Nunavut, was honoured on Wednesday by musicians and industry professionals at a symposium in Six Nations of the Grand River near Hamilton.

Aglukark said the event was beautiful, remarking on her career, “This is my life. I get to be an artist. I get to write and that’s my day job.”

“There was a time in the beginning where I thought it’s a temporary thing because somebody’s going to take it away from me.”

The event was hosted by the Indigenous Performing Arts Alliance (IPAA), a collective of Indigenous performing artists and arts organizations that provides support, leadership and advocacy. 

Aglukark gave a keynote speech earlier Wednesday to attendees.

She said, “If we can nurture dreamers and keep dreamers alive and keep the dream in us alive, anything is possible. Doesn’t matter where you come from.”

Aglukark was the first Indigenous woman to win a Juno award for Best New Solo Artist and Best Music of Aboriginal Canada Recording in 1995 for her album Arctic Rose.

Last year, she toured for the 30th anniversary of her multi-platinum breakthrough album, The Child with the single O Siem, the first top-10 hit in Canada for an Inuk recording artist.

The 2026 Juno Awards will be held this weekend in Hamilton.

Andres Mendoza, vice president of CARAS/Juno Awards, spoke at the event, saying Aglukark’s name holds a special place in Juno history.

“Today is not just about looking back at an important first. It’s about recognizing a career that continues to open doors to inspire artists and communities and strengthen the cultural fabric of Canada,” he said.

Mendoza said back in 1995 Aglukark’s win represented visibility, possibility and a voice “that carried stories, language and experiences that this country and the world needed to hear.”

Aglukark said she left Arviat 35 years ago to pursue her career. Since then, she said, she gets back home often. 

Early in her career, going back home “was a wonderful crazy,” she said. Now, she’s “just David and Dorothy’s daughter, Susan,” which she likes.

Artists share memories

Many artists in attendance said she was an inspiration for them.

Sara Kae, an Ojibway and Cree artist, performer and IPAA grand council member and youth ambassador, said the industry can be scary and so can sharing vulnerable parts of yourself. 

She said up and coming artists need people like Aglukark — who help pave paths and create safe space for them — to look up to, and it’s important to celebrate them.

Jai King-Green, who is Anishinaabe from Mississaugas of the Credit, is a 2026 Juno nominee for traditional Indigenous artist or group of the year with Manitou Mkwa Singers and performed at the event for Aglukark. 

King-Green recalled seeing Aglukark perform in Hamilton when she was five or six years old.

She said she and her sister ran down the aisle and asked to sing with her. Aglukark asked them what they wanted to sing and invited them both on stage to help her perform Amazing Grace.

“I’ll never forget the opportunity to be able to do that and be invited into those spaces,” King-Green said.

Logan Staats, a musician from Six Nations of the Grand River, said Aglukark inspired him growing up.

“She was one of the first Native people I ever saw on MuchMusic when I was a kid,” he said. 

Staats said he remembers performing at the Aboriginal Music Week in Winnipeg when he was just starting out in his musical career and seeing Aglukark there.

He said he passed her one of his CDs and she took it, a moment he’ll always remember now that they’re friends.