The Official First Day Cover features a stamp honouring award-winning Inuit singer-songwriter, actor, director, producer and activist Elisapie. The stamp is one of three in the 2024 Indigenous Leaders issue, the third set of stamps in the Indigenous Leaders series. It is cancelled in Salluit, Quebec, where Elisapie was born and raised.

Good to know

The Indigenous Leaders series recognizes the outstanding achievements and contributions of First Nations, Inuit and Métis leaders. The 2024 issue pays tribute to three remarkable women:

• Christi Belcourt, Métis visual artist and environmentalist

• Elisapie, award-winning singer-songwriter, actor, director, producer and activist

• Josephine Mandamin, Anishinaabe Elder and world-renowned water-rights activist

About the Indigenous Leaders series

The Indigenous Leaders series, launched in 2022, highlights the contributions of modern-day First Nations, Inuit and Métis leaders who dedicated their lives to preserving their culture and improving the quality of life of Indigenous Peoples in Canada.

About Elisapie

Unconditional love for her homeland and tender reflections on Inuit culture and traditions are deeply entrenched in the work of Inuk singer-songwriter, actor, director and activist Elisapie (b. Elisapie Isaac, 1977).

Raised in the remote community of Salluit in Nunavik, the northernmost region of Quebec, she began singing on stage as a teenager with her uncle. After moving to Montréal to pursue communications and music, Elisapie wrote and directed the prize-winning documentary Sila piqujippat (If the Weather Permits) and won a JUNO Award as part of the musical duo Taima.

She gained acclaim as a solo artist with the Félix Award-winning The Ballad of the Runaway Girl (2018), which showcased her storytelling talent and her ability to sing effortlessly in Inuktitut, English and French. Inuktitut (2023) is a nostalgic compilation of covers that she performs in her mother tongue of songs by artists – from Blondie to Led Zeppelin – who influenced her growing up. It earned her the 2024 JUNO Award for Contemporary Indigenous Artist or Group of the Year.

Elisapie is the creator and producer of Le grand solstice, a musical and cultural celebration televised annually to mark National Indigenous Peoples Day.

About the design

The front of the Official First Cay Cover features a landscape photo by Paul Ozzello of Nunavik, the region of northern Quebec where Elisapie was born and raised.

The stamp image features a portrait of Elisapie by photographer Leeor Wild and a landscape photo of Nunavik by Paul Ozzello.

The front also includes the text “Elisapie” in English and Inuktitut and the Elisapie stamp, cancelled in Salluit, Quebec – where Elisapie was raised. The stamp was cancelled on June 21, which is National Indigenous Peoples Day. The cancel is an image of a tattoo Elisapie has on her hand.

Product # 414259131

Indigenous Leaders – Elisapie: Official First Day Cover