INDUS T RY P ROF IL E
Traditional Inuit place names are not only land-based but also relate to the ocean, sea-ice and islands
The Kitikmeot Place Name Atlas
Digitizing Inuit Knowledge and Experience of Landscape
AUTHOR DARREN KEITH AND BRENDAN GRIEBEL
PHOTOS BRENDAN GRIEBEL
T
he identity and heritage of Inuit
is tightly interwoven with the
expanse of Arctic land and sea
once regularly travelled by their ancestors. As such, traditional Inuktitut
place names remain invaluable sources
of knowledge, from both their literal
meanings—which often reference the
resources, events and stories associated
with geographical locations—and from
their role as sources of cultural identity
that continue to anchor generations of
Inuit in place. A person’s knowledge of
place names and the physical spaces they
represent cements their relationship to
the Nunavut territory.
Forager 2 Fall 2015
In Recent Years
Recent decades have seen a sharp decline
in local awareness and maintenance of
place names in Nunavut. The expanse
of territory that was once regularly travelled by Inuit is vast. Due to the changing
social and economic realities of modern
settlement life, many of these distant areas
are no longer sought out for resources or
traversed en route to other destinations.
Modern land travel is often via noisy snow
machines, in isolation from knowledgeable elders and the stories they tell about
the surrounding environment.
While the Nunavut education system
increasingly acknowledges the importance
of bringing land-based knowledge and
cultural values into the classroom, many
feel that it does not compensate for an
actual experience of place. As Cambridge
Bay elder Tommy Kilaodluk once put it:
“We must be on the land year-round to
feel what it is like. If you are in class all day
your vision is vague. The school system
now is all right, but you cannot learn about
the land.”
Finding a Solution
Recognizing both the need and challenge
of maintaining Inuit awareness of place
names in a modern world, the Kitikmeot
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