Legendary but ailing Inuit singer pleas for help to keep heat, lights on – CP

Source: The Canadian Press
Jan 4, 2018 

RANKIN INLET, Nunavut _ An ailing and aging Inuit singer-songwriter whose name is a household word in Nunavut has turned to the public in a plea to keep the heat and lights on in his own home.

The wife of Charlie Panigoniak has started a GoFundMe campaign to buy fuel oil to keep their house in Rankin Inlet warm after losing her job late last year.

Panigoniak has been singing songs of Inuit life and filling community halls across the North since the 1970s.

His songs were heard frequently on northern radio, the musical background for a modern generation of Arctic singer-songwriters.

He was given the Order of Nunavut in 2012, the territory’s highest honour.

In recent years, Panigoniak has developed Parkinson’s disease and dementia.

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