Northern acts Quantum Tangle, Silla + Rise nominated for Juno award

Two Northern acts have hit the big time in Canadian music, as groups in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut both picked up Juno nominations for Indigenous music album of the year.

Yellowknife duo Grey Gritt and Tiffany Ayalik better known as Quantum Tangle were nominated for their albumTiny Hands.Silla + Rise, featuring Nunavut's Cynthia Pitsiulak and Charlotte Qamaniq, were nominated forDebut.

• VIDEO|Quantum Tangle bring history and identity together in through music
• Drake, Shawn Mendes, The Weeknd lead 2017Juno Awards nominees

It's the first nomination for either group, which both use traditional Inuit throat singing in their performances. Silla + Rise features the two Nunavut singers alongside the electronic sounds of Ottawa-based producer Rise Ashen, while Quantum Tangle meshes Ayalik's traditional song and dance with soulful blues from Gritt.

Ayalik, who is Inuk, was born in Yellowknife, while Gritt, who isOji-Mtis, has lived and performed in the city for a number of years. The Inuit duo of Pitsiulak and Qamaniq are from the communities of Kimmirut and Igloolik, respectively.

The two Northern acts are nominated alongside Crystal Shawanda(Ontario), Bryden Gwiss Kiwenzie(Ontario), and William Prince (Manitoba).

The Juno Awards will take place in Ottawa April 2.