One of the central missions of the Inuit Heritage Trust (IHT) is preserving the traditional names of geographical features and landmarks in Nunavut. But time is not on the organizationSA国际影视传媒檚 side, as the people who remember those traditional names are disappearing SA国际影视传媒� particularly in communities like Resolute Bay and Grise Fiord.

SA国际影视传媒淭here were people who made it their business to remember these place names,SA国际影视传媒� IHT traditional place names manager Lynn Peplinski said from Iqaluit. SA国际影视传媒淏ut theySA国际影视传媒檙e getting old. Most of them have passed on.SA国际影视传媒�

The process of preserving a placeSA国际影视传媒檚 official name is complicated.

It begins by interviewing elders living in the region, and recording the names they provide on maps, in Inuktitut syllabics. Those maps are later printed on waterproof paper and distributed for free. IHT also contributes the names it discovers to the popular digital mapping platform SIKU.

The organization has already done that much in many regions of Nunavut.

Peplinski estimates her two-person team has documented the traditional names of roughly 600 places around Naujaat, some 550 around Gjoa Haven, and another 550 around Iqaluit SA国际影视传媒� where she says one elder contributed SA国际影视传媒�100 names in an hour.SA国际影视传媒�

They began to do the same in Resolute in 2007, and Grise Fiord in 2009, but fell far short of the numbers they achieved elsewhere.

SA国际影视传媒淚tSA国际影视传媒檚 because thereSA国际影视传媒檚 been a longer history of occupation in all the other places [weSA国际影视传媒檝e mapped],SA国际影视传媒� Peplinski said, referencing the High Arctic relocation of the 1950s, when people from Northern Quebec and Pond Inlet were coerced into moving to Resolute Bay and Grise Fiord in an effort to affirm Canadian sovereignty in the North. SA国际影视传媒淭heir history doesnSA国际影视传媒檛 go back that long.SA国际影视传媒�

The geographical features around Resolute Bay and Grise Fiord had names before the communities themselves were populated by people from further south. Some of those names were given by Europeans, but other places in the two regions were given traditional Inuit names.

Peplinski points to Polar Bear Pass, a mountain pass to the northwest of Resolute Bay, as an example.

During her teamSA国际影视传媒檚 2007 interviews in the community, elders referred to Polar Bear Pass by the name Kitturajjaq which, like many traditional names, describes the areaSA国际影视传媒檚 physical features. However, people in the community no longer use that name, referring to the pass by its English name or the rough Inuktitut translation, Nanuit Itillinga.

SA国际影视传媒淭he current generation doesnSA国际影视传媒檛 remember Kitturajjaq,SA国际影视传媒� she said. SA国际影视传媒淸The name] Kitturajjaq has nothing to do with polar bears.SA国际影视传媒�

SA国际影视传媒淭hatSA国际影视传媒檚 why the maps are important,SA国际影视传媒� she added. SA国际影视传媒淲e need to have that knowledge written down from those elders, and available to these new generations so they can remember and stay connected to that knowledge.SA国际影视传媒�

SA国际影视传媒淚f people donSA国际影视传媒檛 have paper maps to look at and pour over and share, they donSA国际影视传媒檛 necessarily remember all the names.SA国际影视传媒�

IHT aims to ensure no more names go the way of Kitturajjaq. Unfortunately, preserving the name of a place is not as simple as printing it on a map or adding it to SIKU.

SA国际影视传媒淵ou can only protect these names long-term if theySA国际影视传媒檙e official,SA国际影视传媒� she said. SA国际影视传媒淚f itSA国际影视传媒檚 in the Canadian system, itSA国际影视传媒檚 good for hundreds of years. Until then, itSA国际影视传媒檚 vulnerable.SA国际影视传媒�

For a name to be made official SA国际影视传媒� as far as the Canadian government is concerned SA国际影视传媒� it must first be submitted to NunavutSA国际影视传媒檚 toponymist, based in Iglulik. The toponymist then reviews the validity of the submitted name. If the name meets the requirements, it is submitted to the Minister of Culture and Heritage, and finally passed on to federal government staff, who add it to official maps of the country.

ItSA国际影视传媒檚 a slow process from the beginning, because NunavutSA国际影视传媒檚 toponymist is SA国际影视传媒渁 single person with no support staff,SA国际影视传媒� according to Pelinski.While IHF has succeeded in making the names of places around Pond Inlet, Kimmirut, and Kinngait official, the organization submitted names on 27 maps in 2011 and 2012, and all of those remain unofficial.

SA国际影视传媒淭hereSA国际影视传媒檚 still thousands and thousands of names that we need to make official,SA国际影视传媒� she said.

SA国际影视传媒淭he people that live in the local area, they should have the priority when it comes to naming their area, because they live there,SA国际影视传媒� she said. SA国际影视传媒淚tSA国际影视传媒檚 important to Canada and itSA国际影视传媒檚 important to Nunavummiut.SA国际影视传媒�