Nunavut musician Nancy Mike to meet long-lost relatives during tour Down Under
Jerry Cans member shares Scottish ancestors with Australian musician
Members of the Iqaluit-based band, the Jerry Cans, will soon be seeing some familial faces for the first time during their upcoming tour of Australia and New Zealand.
Nancy Mike sings and plays accordion in the band. She's from Pangnirtung, but way back, her ancestors included Scottish whalers.
"So the Scottish whalers descendants now live in Australia, and I'll get to meet them in Adelaide and one in Canberra," she said. "That will be really special because there hasn't been contact between the two families in over 80 years."
Mike says the families got back in touch via e-mail last year and were surprised to find that her long-lost cousins are also in a band called The Fuelers.
"I made a joke and said 'They're going to fuel up the Jerry Cans when we're in Canberra,'" Mike said, laughing.
She said Maori culture in New Zealand reminds her of Inuit. "They're reclaiming their language and land claims and it's very similar to how we are in Nunavut."
The Jerry Cans will be playing a total of 10 shows during their tour down under.