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RANKIN INLET - On Wednesday evenings, the kitchen at Maani Ulujuk school in Rankin Inlet fills up with students eager to practise an ancient musical art.

About a dozen girls gather there weekly to learn traditional sounds from two accomplished local throatsingers, and have some good laughs in the process.

Layla Autut and Jessie Gordon throatsing as instructors Inukshuk Aksalnik and Stephanie Adams look on. - Karen Mackenzie/NNSL photo

"We were just going to do this for fun, and it just grew and grew into this," said Inukshuk Aksalnik.

She and her friend Stephanie Adams started the club about three years ago, as a way to pass on a tradition they love to the younger generation. With funding from the Department of Culture, Language, Elders and Youth, they purchased some amautis for the group.

This year, they hope to expand the program to include visits from local elders.

"Stephanie learned to throatsing as a younger girl, but when I was their age, eight or nine, I didn't know anything about my culture," Aksalnik said.

While culturally significant, throatsinging also opened up a lot of other doors for both Aksalnik and Adams.

In the past, both have been invited to travel abroad to perform with various partners and groups.

While living in Ottawa, the skill was a source of income for Adams, while Aksalnik had memorable opportunities to record with the 86-member Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and perform at Expo 2000 in Germany.

"I'd like to see the girls perform at more community events, hamlet days and things like that. I know when I was performing, it was a really great opportunity to get out there, to meet new people, to explore different places," Adams said.

"Lots of cultural pride," Aksalnik added.

It would seem the students have big plans for themselves as well.

"I want to go to England or Scotland maybe, to share my culture," said nine-year-old Tristan Sammurtok.

Briana Taparti, also nine, said she dreams of performing in front of a big audience, while 10-year-old Jessie Gordon wants to throat sing at Nunavut Sivuniksavut.

"Some of the girls have been with us all three years. We've seen some of them really grow too; some came in so shy in the beginning but now they're so comfortable and relaxed," Adams said.