How we refer to placenames in Inuit Nunangat (homelands of the Inuit) has changed over the course of time. You might wonder why some community names seem to have recently changed and why. And who decided on their non-Inuit names in the first place?
Europeans in Inuit Nunangat
In the late-1500s, English seaman Martin Frobisher sailed west across the Atlantic in search of the notorious Northwest Passage. He ended up in the area that encompasses Iqaluit, NU and dubbed it Frobisher Bay—that is, until the municipality restored its Inuktitut placename in 1987. Between Frobisher’s time and the early 1900s, European placenames spread across the Canadian arctic by cross-continental explorers. While Inuit already knew of these places and referred to them by descriptive Inuktitut names, once the Arctic was mapped by Europeans, non-Inuit placenames took precedence.
The community of Gjoa Haven, for example, was always known by Inuit as Uqsuqtuuq, Inuktitut for “lots of fat” in reference to the abundant sea mammals who lived in nearby waters. [1] In 1903 Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, again on a hunt for the elusive Northwest Passage, landed at Uqsuqtuuq where he stayed for two years. [2] He dubbed the hamlet Gjoa Haven (“Gjoa” after his ship “Gjøa,” and “Haven” which is Norwegian for “harbour”). Over time Inuit locals adopted European placenames, but this is changing.
Inuit Cultural Sovereignty, Self-Determination, and Name Changes
Inuit cultural sovereignty and self-determination refers to Inuit not only having the freedom to express their culture through art, language, traditional ways and more, but to govern their own lands and resources. Through both acts, Inuit control their own narrative and take back their cultural sovereignty from the Europeans who tried to define it themselves so many years ago. In January 2024, Nunavut was transferred full responsibility and power over the land and resources of the territory by Canada’s federal government—a landmark move toward Nunavummiuq self-determination. [3] In a similar vein, traditional Inuktitut placenames have gradually taken precedence over time, strengthening Inuit cultural sovereignty in Nunavut and across Inuit Nunangat.
A widely known example previously mentioned is Iqaluit, NU (formerly Frobisher Bay) which restored its traditional Inuktitut placename meaning “place of many fish” in 1987. More recently in 2020, the world-famous artmaking community Kinngait, NU (formerly Cape Dorset) legally restored its Inuktitut placename which means “place where the hills are.” That same year, Sanirajak, NU (formerly Hall Beach) was also legally changed, as both communities voted in favour changing the names during plebiscites. [4]
In Nunavik (arctic Quebec) some community name changes began as early as 1980. Collectors of early Inuit sculpture will recognize the name Inukjuak, Nunavik, QC (formerly Port Harrison) and admirers of the work of contemporary interdisciplinary artist Niap might know the Nunavik village of Kuujjuaq (formerly Fort Chimo). In the western arctic’s Inuvialuit Settlement Region, the artmaking community once known as Holman Island—home of Helen Kalvak, Mary Okheena, and more—was restored as Ulukhaktok in 2006, the traditional Kangiryuarmiutun name meaning “place where ulu parts are found.” [5]
While most European placenames were dubbed after a person, a possession, or even a town back home, Inuktitut placenames are descriptive in nature, therefore revealing crucial information about an area—like the type of wildlife found there, or important geographical markers. While many placenames have now been restored to their original Inuktitut, some still legally abide by their European names, while others—like Kinngait—have only changed recently. As Inuit cultural sovereignty and self-determination grows across Inuit Nunangat, we look forward to seeing which Inuktitut names are restored next.
Community names:
Akulivik
Meaning: central prong of a kakivak (harpoon)
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Aqvituuq
Meaning: place of whales
Settler place name: Hopedale
Arviat
Meaning: place of bowhead whale
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Aupaluk
Meaning: the ground is almost red
Ausuittuq
Meaning: place that never thaws
Settler place name: Grise Fiord
Igluligaarjuk
Meaning: place with few houses
Settler place name: Chesterfield Inlet
Iglulik
Meaning: place of Igloos
Settler place name: Igloolik
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Ikaluktutiak
Meaning: good fishing place
Settler place name: Cambridge Bay
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Ikpiarjuk
Meaning: the pocket
Settler place name: Arctic Bay
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Inukjuak
Meaning: many Inuit lived here
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Iqaluit
Meaning: place of many fish
Settler place name: Frobisher Bay
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Ivujivik
Meaning: ice that piles up and becomes jumbled (especially along the shore)
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Kangiqsualujjuaq
Meaning: very large bay
Settler place name: Fort Severight, Fort George River
Kangiqsujuaq
Meaning: very big bay
Settler place name: Wakeham Bay
Kangiqsuk
Meaning: bay
Settler place name: Payne Bay, Bellin
Kangiqtlinikq
Meaning: Deep inlet
Settler place name: Rankin Inlet
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Kangiqtugaapik
Meaning: nice little inlet
Settler place name: Clyde River
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Kikiak
Meaning: Nail
Settler place name: Rigolet
Kimmirut
Meaning: heel
Settler place name: Lake Harbour
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Kinngait
Meaning: tip of the island
Settler place name: Cape Dorset
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Kuujaarjuk
Meaning: little stream
Settler place name: Pelly Bay
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Kuujjuaq
Meaning: great river
Settler place name: Fort Chimo
Marruuvik
Alternate spelling: Makkovik
Meaning: “Vik” is an Inuktitut word meaning “place.” “Makko” may be a corruption of the Inuktitut word for “two,” which is “maggok.”
Mittimatalik
Meaning: the place where the landing place is
Settler place name: Pond Inlet
Naujaat
Meaning: seagull nesting place
Settler place name: Repulse Bay
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Nunainguk
Meaning: he/she is so far out to sea that he/she cannot see any sign of land
Settler place name: Nain
Panniqtuuq
Meaning: Place of bull caribou
Puvirnituq
Meaning: putrefied — place where there is a smell of rotten meat
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Qamani’tuaq
Meaning: where the river widens
Settler place name: Baker Lake
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Qausuittuq
Meaning: place with no dawn
Settler place name: Resolute Bay
Qipuqqaq
Meaning: having scrapes or scratch marks
Settler place name: Postville
Quaqtaq
Meaning: tapeworm
Salliq
Meaning: large flat island in front of the mainland
Settler place name: Coral Harbor
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Sanikiluaq
Meaning: fast runner
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Sanirajak
Meaning: one that is along the coast
Settler place name: Hall Beach
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Talurjuaq
Meaning: large caribou hunting blind
Tasiujaq
Meaning: it looks like a lake
Tikirarjuaq
Meaning: long point
Settler place name: Whale Cove
Umiujaq
Meaning: hill that resembles an umiaq, a large boat made of seal or walrus skin
Uqsuqtuuq
Meaning: lots of fat
Settler place name: Gjoa Haven
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Sources:
[1] See “Gjoa Haven”: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gjoa_Haven[2] See “The Gjoa Expedition (1903-1906)”: https://frammuseum.no/polar-history/expeditions/the-gjoa-expedition-1903-1906/
[3] Nunavummiuq refer to residents or natives of Nunavut, 83% of which identify as Inuit. See: https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&SearchText=Nunavut&DGUIDlist=2021A000262&GENDERlist=1,2,3&STATISTIClist=1&HEADERlist=0
[4] Emma Tranter, “Nunavut minister signs off on name changes for two communities,” Nunatsiaq News February 28, 2020: https://nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/nunavut-minister-signs-off-on-name-changes-for-two-communities/
[5] See “Ulukhaktok”: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulukhaktok#:~:text=In%202006%2C%20the%20community%20was%20renamed%2C%20Ulukhaktok%2C