May 19, 1998

Identity and survival carried in Inuit place-names

A researcher from France says Inuktitut place names contain a vital cultural survival kit.

JANE GEORGE
Nunatsiaq News

IQALUIT - Yet another researcher has used the techniques of the social sciences to "discover" something about Inuit that Inuit have always known about themselves.

Beatrice Collignon, a researcher from France, who looked at more than 1000 Inuit place names in the Kugluktuk and Holman areas of Nunavut says Inuktitut place names contain a vital cultural survival kit that helped Inuit families survive for generations.

"I felt that there must be a complete geography, because Inuit had a struggle to survive on the land, and you don't live for generations without a bank of efficient knowledge," says Collignon.

"Of course, their cultural development shows that there was a lot more than survival - a real, full existence, even if threats to the survival of the group were never far away."

Collignon says that place names communicate the richness of this life, reflecting humor, good moments and bad moments.

A story behind every name

Around 40 per cent of the place names she studied relate to what people do on the land, and 60 per cent seem to simply describe the surrounding physical environment.

"But even from names that look descriptive, you can get an idea of what can be done there," says Collignon. "That's because behind every name, there's a story and an experience."

As an example, Collignon suggests the place name, "hiuqitak" or "the sandy and shallow place."

At first glance, this name may not seem to evoke much, but Collignon learned that many people also called it the "caribou crossing place" instead of the "sandy and shallow place."

"Why? Because everyone knows that a "hiuqitak" is by its very nature a "caribou crossing place" or "nalluk," she says.

Such place names aren't necessary for travel, but they communicate how people use the land, because they tell what can be done there.

"By following the signs in the place names, you can survive and even live on the land," says Collignon.

Stories of past events

Much of this information in place names also has an important cultural content. Many places are identified with past events.

These names can recall mythical events, such as the three hills near Cambridge Ba called Mount Pelly, Lady Pelly and Baby Pelly.

In Innuinnaqtun, these were the names of three Inuit, Uvayuq, Amaatuq, and Uvayurruhiq, a father, mother and young child, the first human beings in the world ever to die.

According to legendary accounts, they perished just as they were reaching the coast in search of food.

"From that point on, men began to die, and the bodies of these three first people who died became those mountains that bear their names. Every passerby remembers their story," says Collignon.

Other names evoke real events and the daily relationship between Inuit and the land.

"This land isn't a strange and impenetrable world. On the contrary, it's familiar, bound to Inuit life," says Collignon. "It may be dangerous, but it's not frightening because it's integrated in the circle of familiarity through its name."

For example, the place called "Qimmaryukturvik" or "the place where they ate dogs" recalls a time of famine when Inuit had to eat their dogs.

"If you look for the Inuit identity, you'll find it in the land," she says. "It's the cornerstone of everything, of mythology, of history. You can even say that there is no such thing as an Inuk without his or her land."

People and land are one

Collignon also finds the relationship between Inuit and their territory to be extremely close, even on a linguistic level.

"Look at the term "-miut," she says. "It's not Inuit who own the land, but who belong to it. You don't find this sense of a relationship, of belonging, in any Western culture."

Collignon spent the month of April this year in Kugluktuk and Holman to talk about the results of her research.

Her book, called Les Inuit, ce qu'ils savent du territoire ("What Inuit know about the land"), is only available in French, although the Canadian Circumpolar Institute at the University of Alberta hopes to find money for its translation.

In her book Collignon applies scientific methods to better understand Inuit traditional knowledge about the land.

"Today, traditional knowledge is officially recognized, but it's important to study it, present it and explain it to others, not just to non-Inuit but also to younger Inuit," says Collignon.

Collignon has also started a new research project on how Inuit women organize their interior house space. She is looking at how women over 50 years old used to organize this space and how they are managing this in today's homes.

"In the past, in snow houses, space was always organized in the same way. Everything was always arranged in the same place," says Collignon. "It's an old tradition because when if you excavate Thule houses, you'll find the same pattern."

Collignon says her research also seems to show that Inuit are adapting their traditional approach to geography to embrace new spaces.

Young people, she says, are now including communities and even places in the South into their geographic view of the world.

"They're making their space more "Inuit", says Collignon. "This should make us feel more optimistic about the future of the Inuit identity. It's not becoming diluted in the larger world, but is integrating this into its own view of the world."

In Canada, Colligon's book may be order through: L'Harmattan Inc., 55 rue Saint-Jacques, Montreal QC, H2Y 1K9.