Elisapie Isaac (also known simply as Elisapie; syllabics: ; born 1977) is a Canadian

Inuk Inuit (singular: Inuk) are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples traditionally inhabiting the Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America and Russia, including Greenland, Labr ...

musician, broadcaster, documentary filmmaker, activist, and actress. She spent her childhood in

Salluit Salluit (, "the thin ones") is the second northernmost Inuit community in Quebec, Canada, located on Sugluk Inlet close to the Hudson Strait and was formerly known as Sugluk. Its population was 1,483 in the Canada 2016 Census and the population ...

, Nunavik, Quebec, and moved to

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

in 1999 to pursue communication studies in order to become a journalist.

Biography

Born in

, Quebec to an Inuk mother and a father from

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

,"Elisapie Isaac to play Iqaluit at month’s end"
. ''Nunatsiaq Online'', March 8, 2010. she performed at age twelve with the Salluit band Sugluk, one of whose members was her uncle George Kakayuk. Isaac collaborated with instrumentalist Alain Auger in the musical project Taima (

Inuktitut Inuktitut ( ; , Inuktitut syllabics, syllabics ), also known as Eastern Canadian Inuktitut, is one of the principal Inuit languages of Canada. It is spoken in all areas north of the North American tree line, including parts of the provinces of ...

for "that's all" or "it is done") in the early 2000s. The band's sole album, ''Taima'', won the Juno Award for Aboriginal Recording of the Year in 2005. In 2006, Isaac wrote lyrics for songs composed by

Bruno Coulais Bruno Coulais (born 13 January 1954) is a French composer, most widely known for his music on film soundtracks. Life and career Coulais was born in Paris; his father, Farth Coulais, is from Vendée, and his mother, Bernsy Coulais, was born in ...

for the film '' The White Planet''. In 2010, Isaac's first solo album, ''There Will Be Stars'', was released by

Pheromone Recordings Cadence Music Group, formerly MapleCore Ltd., is a music company founded in 1999 and located in Toronto, Canada. Cadence Music Group has multiple divisions, five record labels Cadence Recordings, Open Road Recordings, Pheromone Recordings, Physi ...

. On the album, she sings in English, French, and Inuktitut. Her second solo album, ''Travelling Love'', was released in October 2012 under the name Elisapie. During the

Juno Awards The Juno Awards (stylized as JUNOS), or simply known as the Junos, are awards presented by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognize outstanding achievements in Canada's music industry. The Grammy Awards are the United S ...

, she was mistakenly nominated as Breakthrough Artist of the Year, before it was revealed that she had been a Juno winner in 2005; the nomination was rescinded and given to Shawn Hook instead. She garnered a

Canadian Screen Award The Canadian Screen Awards () are awards given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry recognizing excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media ( web series) productions. Given annually by the Academy ...

nomination for Best Original Song at the

2nd Canadian Screen Awards The 2nd Canadian Screen Awards were held on March 9, 2014, to honour achievements in Canadian film, television, and digital media production in 2013.The Legend of Sarila ''The Legend of Sarila'' () is a 2013 Canadian animated adventure film and Canada's first 3D animated feature film.Robert Ito (7 February 2014)"For a Plucky Upstart, Icy Industry Tundra" ''New York Times'' (retrieved 31 January 2015) The film dr ...

''. At the

Juno Awards of 2019 The Juno Awards of 2019, honouring Canadian music achievements, were presented in London, Ontario during the weekend of 16–17 March 2019. The primary telecast ceremonies were held at Budweiser Gardens, preceded by numerous Juno Week events from ...

, her album ''The Ballad of the Runaway Girl'' was nominated for the Indigenous Music Album of the Year. In July 2019, the album was shortlisted for the

2019 Polaris Music Prize The 2019 edition of the Canadian Polaris Music Prize was presented on September 16, 2019.augmented reality Augmented reality (AR), also known as mixed reality (MR), is a technology that overlays real-time 3D computer graphics, 3D-rendered computer graphics onto a portion of the real world through a display, such as a handheld device or head-mounted ...

film, ''V F C''.Elsa Keslassy
"Canadian Producers C.S. Roy, Stéphanie Morissette Unveil Horror-AR Experience ‘V F C’"
''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'', July 14, 2021. She also had a part in the television crime drama series ''

Motel Paradis ''Motel Paradis'' (English: ''Paradise Motel'') is a Canadian television crime drama series, which was broadcast on Club Illico from October 11, 2022. Its six episodes are directed by Sophie Deraspe, who co-wrote the screenplay with Stéphane Ho ...

'' in 2022. In 2023, she released the album ''

'', consisting of ten

-language covers of classic pop and rock songs. She won the award for Contemporary Indigenous Artist of the Year at the

Juno Awards of 2024 The Juno Awards of 2024 were held on 24 March 2024, at Scotiabank Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, to honour achievements in Canadian music in 2023. It recognized the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year determine ...

, and Best Adult Alternative Album at the

Juno Awards of 2025 The Juno Awards of 2025 were held on March 30, 2025, at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, to honour achievements in Canadian music in 2024. The ceremony was hosted by Michael Bublé. Nominees were announced on February 11, 2025. Jos ...

. The album was a shortlisted finalist for the

2024 Polaris Music Prize The 2024 edition of the Canadian Polaris Music Prize was presented on September 17, 2024 at Massey Hall. The longlist was announced on June 11, and the shortlist was released July 12. The award was won by Jeremy Dutcher for his album '' Motewo ...

. On June 13, 2024,

Canada Post Canada Post Corporation (, trading as Canada Post (), is a Canadian Crown corporation that functions as the primary postal operator in Canada. Originally known as Royal Mail Canada (the operating name of the Post Office Department of the Can ...

released a series of stamps titled "Indigenous Leaders". One of them is dedicated to Isaac, marking her cultural contributions.

''If the Weather Permits''

Isaac's 2003

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; ) is a Canadian public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary films, animation, web documentaries, and altern ...

documentary ''If the Weather Permits'', filmed in

Kangiqsujuaq Kangiqsujuaq () is a northern village (Inuit community) in Nunavik, Nord-du-Québec, Quebec, Canada. It had a population of 837 in the Canada 2021 Census. The community has also been known as Wakeham Bay. The name "Kangiqsujuaq" means "the lar ...

, northern Quebec, looks at the changing lifestyles of

Inuit Inuit (singular: Inuk) are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples traditionally inhabiting the Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America and Russia, including Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwe ...

Nunavik Nunavik (; ; ) is an area in Canada which comprises the northern third of the province of Quebec, part of the Nord-du-Québec region and nearly coterminous with Kativik. Covering a land area of north of the 55th parallel, it is the homelan ...

. The film received several awards, including the

Claude Jutra Award The John Dunning Best First Feature Award is a special Canadian film award, presented by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to the year's best feature film by a first-time film director. Under the earlier names Claude Jutra Award and Ca ...

for best new director at the

Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois Rendezvous or rendez-vous may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''The Rendezvous'' (1923 film), a silent film adventure melodrama * ''Rendezvous'' (1930 film), a German musical directed by Carl Boese * ''Rendezvous ...

, and the

Rigoberta Menchú Rigoberta Menchú Tum (; born 9 January 1959) is a K'iche' Guatemalan human rights activist, feminist, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Menchú has dedicated her life to publicizing the rights of Guatemala's Indigenous peoples during and afte ...

Prize at the First Peoples' Festival. It is included in the 2011 Inuit film anthology '' Unikkausivut: Sharing Our Stories''.

Personal life

Isaac dated actor Patrice Robitaille from 2003 to 2011. In 2006, she gave birth to a daughter. She also has a son, born in 2014. In February 2018, she revealed that she was pregnant with her third child, a boy.

Awards and nominations

Discography

Taima * ''Taima'' (2004) Solo * ''There Will Be Stars'' (2010) * ''Travelling Love'' (2012) * ''The Ballad of the Runaway Girl'' (2018) * ''Eaux turbulentes'' (2020) – television soundtrack, with Frédéric Levac * ''

'' (2023)

Filmography

Acting roles

Filmmaking roles

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 1977 births Living people 21st-century Canadian actresses 21st-century Canadian women singers 21st-century Canadian women writers 21st-century Inuit people 21st-century Inuit women 21st-century indigenous writers of the Americas Actresses from Quebec Canadian documentary film directors Canadian film actresses Canadian Folk Music Award winners Canadian Inuit women Canadian voice actresses Canadian women documentary filmmakers Canadian women film directors Canadian women pop singers Canadian women screenwriters Félix Award winners Film directors from Quebec Inuit actresses Inuit filmmakers Inuit from Quebec Inuit musicians Juno Award for Indigenous Music Album of the Year winners People from Nunavik Singers from Quebec Juno Award for Contemporary Indigenous Artist of the Year winners Juno Award for Adult Alternative Album of the Year winners