Renaming the Northwest Passage

On Monday Ontario MP Daryl Kramp introduced a motion in Parliament to rename the Northwest Passage as the “Canadian Northwest Passage", it reads

That, in the opinion of the House, as the various waterways known as the “Northwest Passage” are historic internal waters of Canada, the government should endeavour to refer to these waterways as the “Canadian Northwest Passage”.

Historically, many names on the map in the Inuit homeland (which Inuit call Inuit Nunangat) come from European explorers. In recent history, since Inuit have signed our comprehensive land claim agreements, we have renamed communities to original Inuit place names. For example Frobisher Bay is now called Iqaluit (which means ‘many fish’).

The idea of renaming a huge body of water which crosses through the heart of the Inuit homeland to reflect its “Canadianess”, and as an expression of Canadian sovereignty is a good one. However I think more thought should go into the name so that it reflects Inuit who live in the region, and doesn’t repeat history.

To the best of my knowledge there is no Inuit language name for the Northwest Passage as a whole, and the people who live near it already have their own place names for the portion of it they use. For example, an area of the passage near its eastern entrance is known by the people who live there as “Saniruti Imanga” (which means ‘the edge of the water’).

Inuit can, however, develop a name to capture the spirit of the MPs resolution to rename the Northwest Passage so that it reflects the fact that it is a Canadian waterway. What better way to do this than to give it an Inuit name, one that will by its very existence demonstrate that it is Canadian. If the Inuksuk is a good symbol for the upcoming

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