Legendary but ailing Inuit singer pleads for help to keep heat, lights on
RANKIN INLET, Nunavut — An ailing and aging Inuit singer-songwriter whose name is an Arctic household word has turned to the public in a plea to keep the heat and lights on in his home.
“I didn’t know how else to do this on our own,” said Lorna Panigoniak, the wife and longtime musical partner of Charlie Panigoniak. “It’s hard.”
She started a GoFundMe campaign just after Christmas from Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, where the couple lives.
Charlie Panigoniak, 72, has been singing songs about Inuit life in the language of his people since the 1970s. Born on the land, he didn’t move into a community until the late 1950s and learned to play the guitar on an instrument his father made from a tin can.