List of place names in Canada of Indigenous origin

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This list of place names in Canada of Indigenous origin contains Canadian places whose names originate from the words of the First Nations, Métis, or Inuit, collectively referred to as Indigenous Peoples. When possible, the original word or phrase used by Indigenous Peoples is included, along with its generally believed meaning. Names listed are only those used in English or French, as many places have alternate names in the local native languages, e.g. Alkali Lake, British Columbia is Esket in the Shuswap language; Lytton, British Columbia is Camchin in the Thompson language (often used in English however, as Kumsheen).

Contents

Canada

The name Canada comes from the word meaning "village" or "settlement" in the Saint-Lawrence Iroquoian [1] language spoken by the inhabitants of Stadacona and the neighbouring region near present-day Quebec City in the 16th century. [2] Another contemporary meaning was "land." [3] Jacques Cartier was first to use the word "Canada" to refer not only to the village of Stadacona, but also to the neighbouring region and to the Saint-Lawrence River.

In other Iroquoian languages, the words for "town" or "village" are similar: the Mohawk use kaná:ta', [4] [5] the Seneca iennekanandaa, and the Onondaga use ganataje. [6]

Provinces and territories

Provinces and territories whose official names are aboriginal in origin are Yukon, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and Nunavut.

By province and territory

Alberta

British Columbia

For the scores of BC placenames from the Chinook Jargon, see List of Chinook Jargon place names.

A–B

C

D–J

K–L

M–N

O–Q

S

T

U–Z

Manitoba

New Brunswick

Newfoundland and Labrador

  1. it may be a corruption of the name Maarcoux, after Pierre Marcoux, a French trader in Labrador in the late 18th century ; or
  2. from the Inuktitut maggok, "two"; thus Makkovik would mean "two places". Around Makkovik are two inlets, Makkovik Bay and Makkovik harbour, and two main brooks floating into the two inlets. "Two Buchten Machovik", meaning "two bays Makkovik", is mentioned in a 1775 writing by the German Moravian missionary Johann Ludwig Beck.

Nova Scotia

Northwest Territories

Nunavut

Ontario

Quebec

Saskatchewan

Yukon

See also

Notes

  1. Marc Lescarbot in his publication in French 1610 used the term "caribou." Silas Tertius Rand included the term Kaleboo in his Mi'kmaq-English dictionary Archived 24 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine in 1888.

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References

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