Journalist, cultural worker and musician born in Qamani’tuaq (Nunavut) in 1952.
William Tagoona was born in Qamani’tuaq, (former Baker Lake), in today’s Nunavut in 1952. William’s father, Rev. Armand Tagoona was the first Inuk to be ordained in the Anglican Church of Canada and a founding father of the Arctic Christian Fellowship, the first Inuit church. In 1957, a diagnosis of tuberculois meant that William Tagoona was separated from his family and placed in the Clearwater Lake Sanatorium in Manitoba. He attended residential school in Churchill, Manitoba and completed high school in Ottawa in 1970.
William Tagoona spent some time working for Inuit Tapirisat of Canada (ITC, the Association of the Inuit of Canada) before relocating to Kuujjuaq (Nunavik) in 1971 to begin a career in journalism for Inuktitut magazine. In 1973, William Tagoona founded and served as the first editor of Tagralik magazine, a publication of the Northern Quebec Inuit Association (NQIA), providing the community news about land claims negotiations. As a journalist, he has written over thirty articles in Inuit magazines, Atuaqnik, Makivik News, Makivik Magazine and Inuktitut. He co-edited with Minnie Grey et Marianne Stenbaek, Voices and Images of Nunavimmiut. Vol. 1, Stories & Tales (2013). Voices and Images of Nunavimmiut is a collection of 10 volumes aiming to present the Inuit perspective regarding all aspects of their society.
Throughout his life William Tagoona has been passionate about improving communications for Inuit communities. He joined CBC North in 1982 beginning a 30 year career as a broadcaster, creating Inuktitut language programming. He also participated in the film productions, The history of Nunavik: a new political era (Kativik School Board, 1997) and Napagunnaqullusi = Se tenir debout (Makivik, 2015).
William Tagoona was a member of one of the first Inuit rock groups, The Harpoons, in the 60s. He began to write songs in Inuktitut when he lived in Kuujjuaq in 1971 and his musical style has been described as Inuit country western. His music is well known and well loved in the North. His musical recording studio, Qimuk Music, has produced 35 albums. William Tagoona received a Lifetime Contribution award in 2001 at the Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards.
William Tagoona lives in Kuujjuak with his family. He is the co-host of the radio news show Tuttavik, heard in the afternoons on CBC North.