An Indigenous Place Names Handbook: Sharing the Gwich’in Experience in Canada

Dinjii Zhuh kat nan kak nijin gugweech’in’ oozrii gwits’an giłtsaih, aii nan nits’òo gugwideech’in gwinjik tr’oozrii ts’àt jii oozrii k’iighè’ niinzhit dài’ ezhik gwich’in kat nits’òo gugwiindài’ tr’igwinah’inh. Uuzrii nihłi’ejuk leii goonlih. Nits’òo nan gugwideech’in, duuleh ddhah gòo han ezhik goo’aii k’iighè’ Dinjii Zhuh vuuzri’ giłtsaih. Duuleh ihłee gòo niinzhit dài’ gugwindak gwinjik tr’oozrih. Jidìi t’atr’ijahch’uu, łuk gòo vadzaih jii gwinjik chan duuleh tr’oozrih. Dinjii Zhuh kat nits’òo nan guuzrii kaiik’it gwizhit nihkhah gahgidandaih, nan kak nagahdinjik ts’àt gwandak nihkhah gugwaandak dài’ jii uuzrii t’agijahch’uh.

Gwich’in Tribal Council Department of Culture and Heritage (gwichih Gwich’in Social and Cultural Institute gwitr’ahnuu) 1992 ts’àt 2015 nagwidadhat 23 gahshuk anjoo 74 agwahłeii aii ts’àt juudin gwatat gòo kaiik’it gwizhìt gwich’in kat guughaii 55 – 95 goonlii jii Northwest Territories ts’àt Yukon Gwich’in nành kak nits’òo tr’oozrii ts’àt nits’òo gugwehdineetł’oo gik’itr’ahaandal geenjit guuvah gwitr’it gwiltsaii. Gwich’in anjoo kat nits’òo nan tr’oozrii yeendoo tthak gahgwiheedandaii gwijiinchii goonlii giiniindhan k’iighè’ jii geenjit gwitr’it gwiltsaih. Jii gwitr’it chil’ee gwichiilagoo’ee tł’ee nan uuzrii 900 agwahłeii anjoo kat hàh gwidinithitł’oo ts’àt nits’òo aii nan kak tagwijuudhat chan gwidinithitł’oh. Jii gwitr’it k’iighè’ nan gwik’it tagwiłtsi’ map gwitr’ahnuu tr’iłtsaih (nan gwik’it tagwiłtsi’ 22 agwahłeii) aii gwakak NWT ts’àt Yukon gwa’an nan uuzri’ goo’aii, aii gehghee nan k’it tagwiłtsi’ gwi’dinehtł’ee nichii zheh gwikhyuu gwihee’aa chan tr’iłtsaih. Geomatics ts’àt Cartographic Research Centre, Carleton University danh goo’aii guuvah gwitr’it gugwiłtsaii k’iighè’ jii kat tthak internet kak goo’aih. Aii gehghee jii gwitr’it k’iighè’ National Historic Site (Nagwichoonjik NHS) gwitr’ahnuu tr’igwiłtsaii, jii t’at niinzhit dài’ nan kak tr’igwiindài’ geenjit diiyah tr’igwaandak ts’àt łoohah gwijiinchii goo’aii tr’igwiłtsaih aii gehghee Territorial Historic Sites nihk’ii daan tr’igwiłtsaii, kaiik’it gwi’dinehtł’ee leii giłtsaii, guugwitr’it gugwindak giłtsaii ts’àt Gwich’in nànhkak nits’òo tr’oozrii nihłinehch’i’ 500 agwahłeii gugwidinuutł’oo ts’àt Northwest Territories ts’àt Yukon geenjit k’adagwidaadhat kat ts’àt Geographical Names Board of Canada aii nànhkak nits’òo tr’oozrii łoohàh gwijiinchii gidiinù’ ts’àt Canada gwizhìt nan k’it tagwiltsi’ gwi’dinehtł’ee kak chan jii uuzrii gwidinithitł’oh.

Jii gwitr’it łoohàh nizii k’iighè’ Governor General’s History Award 2020 dài’ nikhwits’an tr’iłtsaii ts’àt Canada gwizhìt kaiik’it goo’aii gwi’dinehtł’ee haatsaa Natural Resources Canada geenjit nikhwiguujahkat. Jii k’iighè’ jii kaiik’it gwi’dinehtł’ee dhàatsaih. Jii dinehtł’eh gwizhìt Dinjii Zhuh Kat nits’òo guunànhkak niizhit dài’ tr’oozrii natr’iguuheendal geenjit guuvah tr’igwaandak: niinzhit dài’ nan tr’oozrii nits’òo geenjit gik’igahaandal, nan uuzrii łoohàh vuuzri’ diininch’uu ts’àt nits’oo gugwehdineetł’oo geenjit gik’igahaandal ts’àt jii uuzrii nan k’it tagwiłtsi’ gwi’dinehtł’ee kak nits’òo gugwehdineetł’oo chan diiyah tr’igwaandak. Nagwidadhat leii jii gwi’dinehtł’ee geenjit Gwich’in nànhkak gwizhìt gwitr’it gwiltsaii Gwichan anjoo kat ts’àt juudin gwatat tr’igwiindài’ kat guuvàh jii gwitr’it gwiltsaii. Nits’òo nihkhah gwitr’it tr’igwahahtsaa, nits’òo gwitr’it gisriindè’tr’ijahłii ts’àt nits’òo gwitr’it gwitseedhoo atr’igwahah’aa jii tthak jii dinehtł’eh gwizhìt goo’aih. Jidii t’atr’ahdahch’aa, nits’òo geenjit diits’àt tr’igiheekhyaa, nits’òo nan k’it tagwiłtsi’ gwi’dinehtł’ee kak uuzrii gugwehdineetł’oo ts’àt gwitr’it tthak ndòo nyaa’ài’ tł’ee dagwiheedya’aa jii tthak geenjit jii dinehtł’eh zhìt goo’aih.

Nan nits’òo tr’oozrii gugwitr’it k’iighè’ Dinjii Zhuh kat guunànhkak geenjit gahgwiheedandaii łoohàh gwijiinchii goo’aii diiyah tr’igwaandak geenjit nizih. Jii geenjit gik’itr’aanjii k’iighè’ Dinjii Zhuh kat guukaiik’it gwizhit t’agahdahch’aa ts’àt k’eejit kat guunànhkak geenjit gik’igahaandal chan geenjit t’agahdahch’ah.

Dinjii Zhuh kaiik’it gwa’àn jii dinehtł’eh t’agahdahch’aa geenjit diinjiidizhit ts’àt yeendoo Canada gwizhìt nan k’it tagwiłtsi’ gwi’dinehtł’ee kak Dinjii Zhuh ginjik zhìt nan uuzrii gugwehdineetł’oo k’iighè’ niinzhit dài’ nits’oo tr’igwiindài’ gahgwiheedandaii, diiginjik gik’itr’ahaandał ts’àt niinzhit dài’ gwik’it gwiinli’ natr’igooheendał geenjit chan diinjiidizhit.

Indigenous place names are the names that Indigenous people assign to various features on the land, and they are windows into the culture and history of people who have long lived there. There are many types of names. An Indigenous place name may refer to a type of geographic feature, such as a mountain or river. It may refer to a person or to someone or something in the legendary realm. A name may even refer to a useful resource such as fish or caribou. Indigenous place names are shared amongst the community and are used when travelling or telling stories.

For 23 years, between 1992 and 2015, the Gwich’in Tribal Council (GTC) Department of Culture and Heritage (formerly Gwich’in Social and Cultural Institute [GSCI]) worked with 74 Elders and traditional land users ranging in age from 55 to 95, both on the land and in our communities, to document place names and create an inventory of heritage sites in the Gwich’in Settlement Region of the Northwest Territories and Yukon. This community-based project grew out of concerns by Gwich’in Elders that this knowledge was being lost, and that it was important to protect, share and celebrate Gwich’in place names so they could be available for many generations to come.

At the end of this impressive project, more than 900 place names were recorded with Elders, along with their oral history. A complete set of 1:50,000 National Topographic System maps (22 maps) with place names for Gwich’in traditional lands in the Northwest Territories and Yukon was created and is available for printing and travelling on the land. Plus, a large wall map with a subset of the names was made. These are all available on an online atlas we created in partnership with the Geomatics and Cartographic Research Centre at Carleton University. Other outcomes of the research include the designation of a National Historic Site (Nagwichoonjik NHS) and 8 new Territorial Historic Sites, community-based publications, reports, and over 500 Gwich’in names officially recognized by the governments of the Northwest Territories and Yukon and the Geographical Names Board of Canada – significantly decolonizing the maps of northwestern Canada.

Because of the success of this project, which won the Governor General's History Award for Excellence in Community Programming in the fall of 2020, the department was approached by Natural Resources Canada to write a handbook for other communities across Canada that may be interested in this work. This handbook is the result. It provides generous information to help other Indigenous communities to repatriate their own place names: how to carry out Indigenous place names research, how to verify and correct the spelling of their names, and how to have the names replace colonial names on official maps. The information and best practices identified in this handbook are based on over two decades of place names research carried out in the Gwich’in Settlement Region under the direction of Gwich’in Elders and traditional land users. To that end, this handbook includes sections on building research relationships, planning a project, and finding funding. It also includes what equipment will be needed, how best to conduct interviews and map place names, and all the work that comes after the names are recorded.

Place names studies can be a wonderful way for an Indigenous organization to record important, timely, and vital information. These studies can also allow Indigenous organizations to give back to their own communities, by having these names recorded for future generations to learn from and enjoy.

We hope that this handbook will be useful to many Indigenous communities and organizations and that the future maps of Canada are filled with many more thousands of Indigenous names, repatriating knowledge, languages, and traditions to where they belong.