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DENINU KU'E/FORT RESOLUTION - A Fort Resolution teenager has created her own unique form of Inuit throat singing.

Olga Aviugana performs solo throat singing, as opposed to the traditional format of two women singing face to face in a kind of competition.

Olga Aviugana, a teenager from Fort Resolution, is originally from Inuvik and a throat singer who practises the traditional Inuit art form a little differently. - Paul Bickford/NNSL photo

People are surprised when they see her perform, said the 16-year-old. "They always ask me, 'Isn't this supposed to be done with two people?'"

She first performed in public at the Fort Resolution Spring Carnival in 2007.

As far as she knows, she is the only throat singer living in the South Slave.

"It's a lot of fun when there are two people," she said. "I wish there were more people around here who knew how to throat sing."

Aviugana said her throat singing still sounds good, but not as good as it would with two people. She tried to teach the style of singing to some of her friends in Fort Resolution, but none of them could pick it up or were not that interested in learning.

"It's hard to improve when I don't have another person to throat sing with," she said.

Aviugana learned the unique style of singing while at a Junior Canadian Rangers camp in Whitehorse in 2006.

At the camp, there were two girls from Gjoa Haven, Nunavut, who taught her. Aviugana explained throat singing is done by the Inuit in the Eastern Arctic.

"The person who laughs first or stops is the loser," she said of the competitive nature of the singing. "The person who lasts the longest is the winner."

Aviugana always wanted to learn how to throat sing.

She is Inuvialuit originally from Inuvik.

"It was interesting to hear all the different sounds they can create with their throats," she said, adding she looked at it as a challenge to learn how to do it.

In Whitehorse, she learned one song from the girls from Gjoa Haven, and has since learned a second song from a friend in Tuktoyaktuk.

"It looks really hard, but, once you learn how to do it, it's really simple," she said, explaining the songs involve two beats - one tone with the throat and a second tone with a regular voice.

The teenager also learns by watching throat singing on television and on YouTube, a video sharing website on the Internet.

Aviugana, who has lived in Fort Resolution for five years, has performed solo throat singing at talent shows around the South Slave and in High Level, Alta. Four months ago in High Level, she won a $1,000 prize.

She is hoping to get a singing partner for next month's Deninoo Days in Fort Resolution to show people how throat singing is actually supposed to be done. While she hasn't found that person yet, she said she has an idea of someone who might be interested.

Aviugana said she would love if someone else in Fort Resolution eventually learns the style of singing. She also hopes to go to Nunavut sometime in the future to learn more about throat singing.