List of place names in Canada of Aboriginal origin

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This list of place names in Canada of Aboriginal origin contains Canadian places whose names originate from the words of the First Nations, Métis, or Inuit, collectively referred to as Aboriginal peoples in Canada. When possible the original word or phrase used by Aboriginals 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).

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

Contents 1 Provinces and territories 1.1 Alberta 1.2 British Columbia 1.2.1 A-B 1.2.2 C 1.2.3 D-J 1.2.4 K-L 1.2.5 M-N 1.2.6 O-Q 1.2.7 S 1.2.8 T 1.2.9 U-Z 1.3 Manitoba 1.4 New Brunswick 1.5 Newfoundland and Labrador 1.6 Nova Scotia 1.7 Northwest Territories 1.8 Nunavut 1.9 Ontario 1.10 Quebec 1.11 Saskatchewan 1.12 Yukon 2 Notes 3 References 4 Resources 5 See also

[edit] Provinces and territories

• Manitoba: Either derived from the Cree word manito-wapâw meaning "the straight of the spirit or manitobau" or the Assiniboine words mini and tobow meaning "Lake of the Prairie", referring to Lake Manitoba.
• Nunavut: "Our land" in Inuktitut.
• Ontario: Derived from the Huron word onitariio meaning "beautiful lake", or kanadario meaning "sparkling" or "beautiful" water.
• Quebec: from the Míkmaq word kepék, meaning "strait" or "narrows".^[7]
• Saskatchewan: Derived from the Cree name for the Saskatchewan River, kisiskāciwani-sīpiy, meaning "swift flowing river".
• Yukon: from an Athabaskan language, e.g. Koyukon yookkene or Lower Tanana yookuna.^[8]

[edit] Alberta

• Amisk: "Beaver" in Cree.
• Athabasca River, Lake Athabasca, Athabasca Falls, Mount Athabasca, Athabasca: "Where there are reeds" in Cree
• Kananaskis
• Medicine Hat: Translation of the Blackfoot word saamis, meaning "headdress of a medicine man".
• Lake Minnewanka: ""Water of the Spirits" in Sioux language (Nakoda/Stoney language)
• Nikanassin Range: "First range" in Cree language
• Okotoks: "Big Rock" in Blackfoot language
• Ponoka: "Black Elk" in Cree language
• Wabasca: from wapuskau, "grassy narrows" in Cree language
• Wetaskiwin: "Place of peace" or "hill of peace" in Cree language
• Wapiti River: from the Shawnee word for "elk", waapiti (literally "white rump").^[9]
• Waputik Range: Waputik means "white goat" in Sioux language^{[citation needed]}

[edit] British Columbia

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

[edit] A-B

• Ahnuhati River: "where the humpback salmon go" in Kwak'wala (humpback salmon are also known as pink salmon)
• Ahousat: "facing opposite the ocean" in Nuu-chah-nulth (Nootka).
• Aiyansh and New Aiyansh: "early leaves" or "leafing early" in the Nisga'a language
• Akamina Pass: "mountain pass" in Ktunaxa (Kootenay)
• Akie River: "cut-bank river" in Dunne-za
• Amiskwi River: "beaver trail" in Cree
• Anyox: "place of hiding" in Nisga'a
• Ashlu Creek
• Ashnola River: thought to mean "place of trading" in Okanagan
• Asitka River, Asitka Peak, Asitka Lake
• Askom Mountain: "mountain" in St'at'imcets (the Lillooet language)
• Atchelitz: "bottom" in Halqemeylem, possibly because this locality and the creek of the same name is at the bottom of Chilliwack Mountain.
• Atlin: "big lake" in Inland Tlingit
• Atna Range: "strangers" or "other people" in Carrier.
• Atnarko River: "river of strangers" in Chilcotin
• Atsutla Range
• Attachie: the name of a Beaver indian whose descendants are members of the nearby Doig River First Nation
• Bella Coola: Named for the usual term for the local indigenous people, who call themselves Nuxalk. Bella Coola is an adaption of /bəlxwəla/, the Heiltsuk name for the Nuxalk; their meaning is not limited to the band at Bella Coola but to all Nuxalk.
• Bella Bella: This is an adaption of the Heiltsuk name the themselves, /pəlbálá/.
• Botanie Mountain, Botanie Creek, Botanie Valley etc, meaning "covered", "covering" or "blanketed all over" in Nlaka'pamua (Thompson), which is thought to be a reference to its shroud of cloud or fog in times of bad weather, or else a reference to the abundant plant cover in the area. An 1894 account of a Secwepemc (Shuswap) meaning is "many root place" (the upper end of the Botanie Valley is near the limit of Secwepemc territory)

[edit] C

• Canim Lake, Canim River, Canim Falls, Canim Beach Provincial Park: "canoe" in the Chinook Jargon
• Cariboo: from Micmac xalibu via French cariboeuf or carfboeuf: "pawer" or "scratcher". A mountain subspecies of caribou were once numerous in the Cariboo.
• Carmanah Creek, Carmanah Valley, Carmanah Point: "thus far upstream" in the Nitinaht dialect of Nootka (Nuu-chah-nulth).
• Cassiar: a remote adaptation of Kaska, definition debatable, but possibly "old moccasins".
• Caycuse River: from the Nitinaht dialect of Nootka, meaning "place where they fix up canoes".
• Cayoosh Creek: Cayoosh is a Lillooet-area variant of cayuse, originally from the Spanish caballo - "horse", although in Lillooet and the Chilcotin this word specifies a particular breed of Indian mountain pony. There are two versions of the name's meaning. In one account, someone's pony dropped dead in or at the creek after an arduous journey over the pass at the head of its valley. In the other, the crest of standing waves in the rushing waters of the creek are said to resemble bucking horses and their manes.
• Celista, British Columbia: from the Secwepemc chiefly and family name Celesta, common in the nearby community of Neskonlith near Chase.
• Chaba Peak: from the Stoney language word for "beaver".
• Chantslar Lake: from the Chilcotin language word for "steelhead lake"
• Cheakamus River: from the Squamish language "Chiyakmesh", for "salmon weir place".
• Cheam: Halqemeylem for "(place to) always get strawberries". The Halqemeylem term refers to an island across from the present-day reserve and village. This name is used in English for Mount Cheam (Cheam Peak), the most prominent of the Four Sisters Range east of Chilliwack, which in Halqemeylem is called Thleethleq (the name of Mount Baker's wife, turned to stone).
• Chechidla Range
• Checleset Bay: from the Nootka (Nuu-chah-nulth) name Cheklesahht, "people of cut on the beach", the local group of Nuu-chah-nulth people, whose band government today is the Kyuquot/Cheklesahht First Nation.
• Chedakuz Arm (Knewstubb Lake), Carrier language
• Cheewat River: from the Nitinaht dialect of Nuu-chah-nulth for "having an island nearby".
• Cheekye River and the locality of Cheekye near Squamish: from Nch'kay, the Squamish language name for Mount Garibaldi, meaning "dirty place" in reference to that mountain's ash-stained snows
• Chehalis and Chehalis River: probable meanings vary from "the place one reaches after ascending the rapids" or "where the 'chest' of a canoe grounds on a sandbar'. The sandbar or rapids in question would be the old "riffles" of the Harrison River where it empties into the Fraser River out of Harrison Bay (the riffles were dredged out in gold rush times). The Chehalis people refer to themselves, however, as Sts'ailes, "beating heart".
• Cheja Range
• Chemainus: Named after the native shaman and prophet Tsa-meeun-is, which means "Broken Chest" or "bitten breast"(Hunquminum language), a reference to the bitemarks possible during a shamanic frenzy, which the local horseshoe-shaped bay is thought to have resembled.
• Cheslatta Lake: "top of small mountain" or "small rock mountain at east side" in the Carrier language
• Chezacut: "birds without feathers" in the Chilcotin language.
• Chic Chic Bay: Tshik-tshik, under various spellings, is the Chinook Jargon for a wagon or wheeled vehicle.
• Chikamin Range: Chickamin, as usually spelled, is "metal" or "ore" in the Chinook Jargon, often meaning simply "gold"
• Chilako River: "beaver hand river" in the Carrier language
• Chilanko River: "many beaver river" in the Chilcotin language
• Chilcotin River: "red ochre river people" in the Chilcotin language
• Chilkat Pass: "salmon storehouse" in the Tlingit language
• Chilko River: "red ochre river" in the Chilcotin language
• Chilliwack: "Going back up" in Halqemeylem. Other translations are "quieter water on the head" or "travel by way of a backwater of slough", all a reference to the broad marshlands and sloughs of the Chilliwack area, which lies between the Fraser River's many side-channels and Sumas Prairie (much of formerly Sumas Lake). Older spellings are Chilliwhack, Chilliwayhook, Chil-whey-uk, Chilwayook, and Silawack.
• Chinook Cove: on the North Thompson River, a reference to the Chinook salmon rather than to the language, wind or people of the same name.
• Choelquoit Lake: "fishtrap lake" in the Chilcotin language
• Chonat Bay: "where coho salmon are found" in Kwak'wala
• Chu Chua: the plural of the Secwepemc language word for "creek".
• Chuckwalla River: "short river" in Oowekyala. The nearby Kilbella River means "long river".
• Chukachida River
• Chutine River: "half-people" in either the Tlinkit or Tahltan languages. The area's population was half-Tlingit and half-Tahltan.
• Cinnemousun Narrows Provincial Park: From the Secwepemc language cium-moust-un, meaning "come and go back again", sometimes translated as "the bend" (i.e. in Shuswap Lake)
• Clayoquot Sound: an adaption of the Nuu-chah-nulth language Tla-o-qui-aht, which has a variety of translations: "other or different people", "other or strange house", "people who are different from what they used to be"; in Nitinaht the phrase translates as "people of the place where it becomes the same even when disturbed".
• Clo-oose: "campsite beach" in the Nitinaht dialect of Nuu-chah-nulth
• Clusko River: "mud river" in the Chilcotin language
• Cluxewe River: "delta or sand bar" in Kwak'wala
• Coglistiko River: "stream coming from small jack-pine windfalls" in the Carrier language
• Colquitz River: "waterfall" in North Straits Salish
• Comiaken: "bare, devoid of vegetation" in Hunquminum
• Comox: either from the Chinook Jargon for "dog" (kamuks), or from the Kwak'wala for "place of plenty".
• Conuma Peak: "high, rocky peak" in the Nuu-chah-nulth language
• Coqualeetza: "place of beating of blankets (to get them clean)" in Halkomelem
• Coquihalla River: "stingy container" (of fish), a reference to black-coloured water spirits who would steal fish right off the spear
• Coquitlam: "Small red salmon" in Halqemeylem (Upriver Halkomelem). Derived from the name of the Khwayquitlam people. Another and more usual translation is "stinking of fish slime" or "stinking fish", thought to be a reference to the Khwayquitlam people's role as slaves to the Katzie and Kwantlen as fish butchers.
• Cowichan: from Quwutsun, "land warmed by the sun" or "warm country" (Hunquminum)
• Cultus: "bad, of no value, worthless" in Chinook jargon. In First Nations legend, this popular recreational lake south of Chilliwack was said to be inhabited by evil spirits.
• Cumshewa, Cumshewa Inlet, Cunshewa Head: Cumshewa was a prominent Haida chief in the late 18th Century, noted for the killing of the crew of the US trading vessel Constitution in 1794. His name means "rich at the mouth" (of the river)" and was conferred from the language of the Heiltsuk, who were allies of the Cumshewa Haida.

[edit] D-J

• Dil-Dil Plateau, meaning unknown, probably Chilcotin language
• Ealue Lake: "sky fish" in Tahltan.
• Ecstall River: from the Tsimshian for "tributary" or "something from the side" (the Ecstall joins the Skeena River near Prince Rupert
• Eddontenajon: "a little boy drowned" in Tahltan
• Cape Edensaw: Edenshaw, in its modern spelling, remains an important name in modern Haida society, known mostly nowadays for the dynasty of famous carvers of that name, all descendants of the early 19th Century chief of this name, one of the powerful chiefs of Masset
• Edziza, Mount and Edziza, Mount volcanic complex: named after the Edzertza family of the Tahltan people, who live nearby.
• Elaho River
• Endako Lake, Carrier language
• Esquimalt: North Straits Salish for "the place of gradually shoaling water". Derived from their word Es-whoy-malth.
• Euchuk Lake, Carrier language
• Fontas River: originally Fantasque's River, after the name of a chief of the Sekani people
• Gataga River
• Gingolx, also sp. Kincolith, "Place of skulls" in the Nisga'a language
• Gunn Valley, from the name of a member of the Xeni Gwet'in of Nemaiah Valley who lived there, ganin.
• Hotnarko River
• Hozameen Range
• Hunlen Falls, from the name of a chief whose trapline was in the area of the falls
• Inklin River
• ((Iqaluit)) - place of fish
• Kinuseo Falls, from the Cree for "fish"

[edit] K-L

• Kalamalka Lake
• Kamloops: anglicization of the Shuswap word Tk'emlups, meaning "where the rivers meet".
• Kasalka Range, Kasalke Butte, Kasalka Creek
• Kelowna: "Grizzly bear" in the Okanagan language.
• Kemano
• Keremeos
• Khutzeymateen River, Khutzeymateen Provincial Park, Khutzeymateen Inlet, from "K'tzim-a-deen" (Tsimshian language)
• Kincolith - see Gingolx
• Kitimat- people of the snow
• Kitlope River, var. of Gitlope, the Tsimshian language name for the Gitlope, "people of the rocks", now amalgamated with the Gitamaat band as the Haisla First Nation.
• Klemtu
• Kluskus Lakes, Kluskus Hills, Kluskus
• Kootenay: derived from the proper name of the Kootenay people, Ktunaxa
• Kuyakuz Mountain, Kuyakuz Lake
• Kwadacha River
  • Kwadacha Glacier
  • Kwadacha Mountain
  • Kwadacha Wilderness Provincial Park
  • Kwadacha, British Columbia (Fort Ware)
• Kyuquot, British Columbia, Kyuquot Sound - from the name of the local group of Nuu-chah-nulth
• Lillooet: adapted from the proper name for the Lower St'at'imc people, the Lil'wat of Mt. Currie. Lil'wat means "wild onions". The old name of Lillooet was Cayoosh Flat (1858-1860), derived from the name of one of the streams converging into the Fraser at the town (cayoosh is the local variant of Chinook Jargon for "horse" or "Indian pony").

[edit] M-N

• Malahat
• Malakwa: from Chinook Jargon malakwa for "mosquito(s)" (from fr. le maringouin).
• Mamquam River
• Marktosis
• Masset - a Haida adaptation of a Spanish captain's name, possibly Masseta or Massetta
• Matsqui: ″stretch of higher ground″
• Mehatl Creek
• Mesilinka River
• Metchosin: English translation of Smets-Schosen, meaning "place of stinking fish"
• Metsantan Pass, Metsantan Range - "People of the Caribou Hide" in Kaska. Also the name of the former settlement of Metsantan, aka Caribou Hide, and of Metsantan Creek and Metsantan Lake^[10]
• Misinchinka River
• Muskwa River
• Naglico Lake, Naglico Hills
• Nadina River
• Nahatlatch River, Nahatlatch Needle
• Nakina River
• Nakusp
• Namu
• Nanaimo: Named after the Snuneymuxw people.
• Nanoose Bay
• Natalkuz Lake
• Nazko
• Nechako River: An anglicization of [netʃa koh], its name in the indigenous Carrier language which means "big river".
• Nemaiah Valley, from Nemiah, name of the founding chief who moved there from Hanceville
• Nicolum River
• Nicoamen River, Nicoamen Plateau
• Nicolum River, Nicolum River Provincial Park
• Nicomekl River
• Nicomen Island
• Nimpkish River, from the name of the 'Namgis, the Kwakwaka'wakw people whose territory this river is in.
• Nimpo Lake
• Nitinat Lake: from the usual English spelling of the name of the Ditidaht people
• Noaxe Lake, Noaxe Creek

[edit] O-Q

• Okanagan:
• Omineca River, Omineca Mountains, Omineca Country
• Ominicetla River
• Ootsa Lake
• Opitsaht
• Osilinka River
• Osoyoos: From suius in the Okanagan language, meaning "Narrowing of the waters"; the O- prefix was added by English speakers to harmonize with Okanagan and other O-placenames in the area such as Omak, Oroville and Oliver.
• Ospika River
• Pasayten River
• Penticton: "Place to stay forever" in Okanagan
• Popkum: "puffball mushrooms" in Halqemeylem
• Qualicum: "Where the dog salmon run" in Comox
• Quanchus Range
• Quatsino Sound, Quatsino Provincial Park, Quatsino, British Columbia, from Gwat'sinux, the name of the local group of Kwakwaka'wakw people.
• Quilchena:

[edit] S

• Saanich: from WSANEC, the name of one of the local Straits Salish peoples and their language.
• Sechelt: the town is named after the Shishalh people who live in the area
• Shalalth: From Ts'alalh, "the lake" in the St'at'imcets language of the Lillooet people
• Shulaps Range, Shulaps Peak: "ram of the mountain sheep" in the Chilcotin language.
• Sicamous
• Sikanni Chief River
• Siska - from sisqa, Thompson language (Nlaka'pamux) for "uncle"
• Skaha Lake: from the Okanagan language word for "dog" (sqexe). Skaha Lake in frontier times was often called Dog Lake, although that is the Shuswap language meaning of skaha; in the Okanagan language it means "horse" or "pony".
• Skaist Mountain, Skaist River
• Skeena River
• Skihist Mountain and Skihist Provincial Park
• Skidegate
• Skookumchuck: "strong (skookum) ocean/water (chuck); that is: "strong tide, strong ocean current, rapids" in Chinook Jargon (three different locations - Sechelt Inlet, Lillooet River, Columbia River/East Kootenay, though also has a general meaning of a tidal rapids, usually at the mouth of an inlet).
• Similkameen: From "Similkameugh" or "Samilkameigh" or "Samilkumeigh", one of the twelve tribes of the Okanagan people. The "-meen" ending was "forced by the whites" on this name to harmonize with the name of the river's tributary, the Tulameen.
• Sloko River
• Somass River
• Sooke: named after the T'Souke people who live in the area
• Spallumcheen
• Spatsizi River and associated placenames
• Spillimacheen River, Spillimacheen
• Spuzzum, from the local variant of the Chinook Jargon spatsum, a reed used in basketry
• Squamish and Squamish River: The river and the town are named after the Skwxwu7mesh people who live in the area
• Stein River: Adjacent to Lytton BC, "Stein" is an adaptation of the Nlaka'pamux (Thompson) staygn - "hidden place".
• Stellako River, Stellako
• Stikine River and associated placenames. From Shta-KEEN, "great river" in the Tlingit language
• Sumallo River
• Sumas Lake, Sumas River, Sumas Mountain, and the old District of Sumas (now part of Abbotsford): from a Halqemeylem language word for ""a big level opening"

[edit] T

• Taghum, British Columbia, taghum is the Chinook Jargon word for "six" (Taghum is six miles from Nelson
• Tagish Lake, Tagish Highland - "fish trap" or "it (spring ice) is breaking up" in the Tagish language
• Tahltan, Tahltan River, Little Tahltan River, Tahltan Highland, from the name of the Tahltan people
• Tahsis
• Tahtsa Lake, Tahtsa Peak, Tahtsa Ranges
• Talchako River, Talchako Pass
• Takla Lake, Takla Landing
• Taku River, Taku Plateau and the Taku Arm of Tagish Lake from the name of the Taku people
• Talchako River
• Tanzilla River, Tanzilla Plateau
• Taseko Mountain, Taseko River, Taseko Lakes
• Tatla Lake
• Tatlatui Provincial Park, Tatlatui Lake, Tatlatui Peak
• Tatlayoko Lake
• Tchaikazan River, from the Chilcotin language name for a peak visible from its valley, Ts^icheza'on.
• Teslin Lake and Teslin, British Columbia, from the name of the local group of Inland Tlinkit
• Tochquonyalla Range
• Toodoggone River, originally "Thudegade" and from the Kaska language Tuhfa Ughane meaning "Two Brothers River or "eagles nest"^[11]
• Ts'il?os Provincial Park, also Ts'il?os, Ts'ylos, Ts'yl-os, Tsoloss, the Chilcotin language name for Mount Tatlow
• Tulameen: Nlaka'pamux (Thompson) language for "red earth", a reference to the ochre found here.
• Tuya River, Tuya Lake, Tuya Range, Little Tuya River
• Tsawwassen: "Looking toward the sea" in North Straits Salish
• Tyoax Pass, at the head of Tyaughton Creek (see next)
• Tyaughton Lake, Tyaughton Creek (also Tyoax, Tyax), from the Chilcotin language for "jumping fish"
• Tyhee Lake Provincial Park: Tyhee is a variant of the usual Chinook Jargon tyee - "chief, big, great, important, boss"

[edit] U-Z

• Ucluelet: "people of the safe harbour" in the language of the Nuu-chah-nulth.
• Unuk River
• Wannock River, "poison" in Wuikyala
• Wapiti River
• Whonnock, Whonnock Lake, Whonnock Creek: from honnock, "humpback salmon" in Halqemeylem, the only variety of salmon to spawn in Whonnock Creek.
• Yalakom River, Yalakom Mountain: "ewe of the mountain sheep" in the Chilcotin language
• Yohetta Valley,
• Yoho National Park - "Yoho" means "how amazing" or "it is beautiful"
• Yuquot, the Nuu-chah-nulth language name, meaning "winds come from all directions", for the village usually known in English as Friendly Cove, on Nootka Sound
• Zagoddetchino Mountain
• Zus Mountain
• Zymoetz River

[edit] Manitoba

• Grand Rapids: Translation of Cree word misepawistik, meaning "rushing rapids".
• Wapusk National Park: from wâpask, "polar bear" in Cree language
• Winnipeg: "muddy water" from the word win-nipi of the Cree.

[edit] New Brunswick

• Apohaqui
• Aroostook
• Caraquet: Derived from the Mi'kmaq language, meaning "junction (or meeting) of two rivers".^[12][13]
• Escuminac
• Kennebecasis River
• Kouchibouguac National Park (and River): Kouchibouguac means "river of the long tides" in Mi'kmaq.
• Maguadavic Lake
• Mactaquac
• Manawagonish Island
• Meductic : derived from the Maliseet word "Medoctic", meaning "the end".
• Miramichi : the name, which may be the oldest recorded name of aboriginal origin in Canada, may come from the Montagnais word for "country of the Micmac."
• Nackawic
• Nashwaak River : a corruption of the Maliseet word for slow current.
• Nashwaaksis
• Nauwigewauk
• Oromocto : possibly from the Maliseet word welamooktook which means "good river"
• Penniac
• Penobsquis
• Petticodiac
• Pokiok
• Quispamsis
• Shiketehauk River
• Temisquata Lake
• Washademoak Lake
• Woolastook : Maliseet word meaning 'good and bountiful river'

[edit] Newfoundland and Labrador

• Aguathuna: possibly derives from the Beothuk aguathoonet or aquathoont, "grindstone", imposed perhaps in the mistaken belief that it meant "white rock" for the limestone abundant in the area[1]
• Kaipokok Bay: from Inuktitut, meaning "frothy water"[2]
• Makkovik: Vik is the Inuktitut word for "place". Makko- may have one of the following origins:

1. it may be a corruption of the name Maarcoux, after Pierre Marcoux, a French trader in Labrador in the late 1700s[3]; 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.[4]

• Nunatsiavut: from Inuktitut, meaning "our beautiful land"[5]
• Shannoc Brook: Joseph Beete Jukes, the Geological Surveyor of Newfoundland in 1839-1840, believed that Shannoc Brook, a tributary of the Exploits River, was given the Beothuk name for the Mi'kmaq[6].
• Sheshatshiu: from Inuktitut, meaning "a narrow place in the river".[7]
• Torngat Mountains: from the Inuktitut name for the region, turngait, meaning "spirits"; Inuit legends hold that here the spirit and physical worlds overlap.[8]
• Wabana — from the Abanaki wabunaki, "east land" from wabun "dawn"; so named in 1895 by Colonel Thomas Cantley, president of the Nova Scotia Steel Company[9]
• Wabush — from Innu wabush, "rabbit ground"[10]

[edit] Nova Scotia

• Antigonish: Derived from the Mi'kmaq word nalegitkoonechk, meaning "where branches are torn off".
• Baddeck
• Chebucto (the original name of Halifax and the Halifax Harbour): Derived from the Mi'kmaq word "Jipugtug", meaning "the biggest harbour".^[14][15][16]
• Cobequid: Derived from the Mi'kmaq word "Wakobetgitk", meaning "end of the rushing or flowing water".^[17][18]
• Ecum Secum: Derived from the Mi'kmaq language, meaning "a red house".
• Eskasoni: Derived from the Mi'kmaq word We'kwistoqnik, meaning "Where the fir trees are plentiful".
• Kejimkujik National Park: "Kejimkujik" has been translated as meaning "attempting to escape" or "swollen waters", but the park's official translation means "tired muscles".
• Malagash
• Merigomish
• Mushaboom
• Musquodoboit
• Pictou: Derived from the Mi'kmaq word "Piktook", meaning "an explosion of gas".^[19][20]
• Pugwash: Derived from the Mi'kmaq word "pagwe’ak", meaning "deep water".^[21][22]
• Shubenacadie:Derived from the Mi'kmaq word Shubenacadie (or Segubunakade) means "abounding in ground nuts" or "place where the red potato grows.
• Stewiacke: Derived from the Mi'kmaq language, meaning "flowing out in small streams" and "whimpering or whining as it goes".^[23]
• Tatamagouche: Derived from the Mi'kmaq word takumegooch, meaning "meeting of the waters".
• Tracadie
• Wagmatcook
• Whycocomagh:Derived from a Mi'kmaq word which means "Head of the Waters".

[edit] Northwest Territories

• Aulavik National Park, Aulavik means "place where people travel" in Inuvialuktun
• Naats'ihch'oh National Park Reserve, Naats'ihch'oh means "stands like a porcupine" in the Dene Suline language
• Nahanni National Park Reserve and South Nahanni River, from Nahani meaning "People over there far away" in the Dene language
• Pingo National Landmark, from Pingo an Inuvialuktun word for "small hill"
• Slave River, thought to come from the Athabaskan Deh Gah Got'ine, the name for the Slavey group of the Dene First Nations
• Thaydene Nene National Park, Thaydene Nene meaning "land of our ancestors" in the Dene language
• Tuktut Nogait National Park, Tuktut Nurrait means "young caribous" in Inuvialuktun

[edit] Nunavut

• Auyuittuq National Park - Auyuittuq means "the land that never melts".
• Iqaluit: "many fish" in Inuktitut.
• Pangnirtung is derived from Pangniqtuuq: "the place of many bull caribou"
• Quttinirpaaq National Park - Qutsiniqpaaq/Quttiniqpaaq means "top of the world" in Inuktitut and Quttiniqpaaq in Inuinnaqtun.
• Sirmilik National Park - Sirmilik means "the place of glaciers" in Inuktitut and Hirmilik in Inuinnaqtun.
• Ukkusiksalik National Park - Ukkusiksalik means "place of have cooking pots" in Inuktitut and Utkuhikhalik in Inuinnaqtun/Natsilik/Kivalliq.

[edit] Ontario

• Algonquin Provincial Park: Named after the Algonquin (Anishinaabeg) people of Ontario.
• Attawapiskat
• Brantford: Named after Joseph Brant, a Mohawk leader.
• Etobicoke: "The place where the alders grow" from the word wadoopikaang in the Ojibwe language.
• Gananoque: "water running over rocks."
• Kanata
• Kapuskasing
• Manitoulin Island: Manitoulin is the English version of the word Mnidoo which means "spirit" in the Nishnaabe (Ojibway) language. Mnidoo Mnis is the original name. Mnis meaning "island".
• Manitouwadge
• Mattawa
• M'Chigan
• Michipicoten
• Mississauga: Named after the native tribe of the Mississauga
• Mississippi River (between Ottawa and Mattawa)
• Nipigon
• Nipissing: from the Anishinaabe language term nibiishing, "at (some) water".^[24]
• Ohsweken
• Oshawa: from the Ojibwe term aazhaway, meaning "crossing to the other side of a river or lake" or just "(a)cross".^[25][24]
• Ottawa: "To buy" from the word adaawe in the Anishinaabe language; adapted as the name of the Odawa people.
• Penetanguishene
• Petawawa From Algonquin meaning "where one hears the noise of the water"
• Pukaskwa National Park
• Temagami: from the Anishinaabe word dimiigami, "deep water(s)".^[24]
• Timiskaming: from the Algonquin language Temikami or Temikaming, meaning "deep waters".
• Toronto: from an Iroquoian language, but of uncertain derivation.^[26] Another story says it is derived from the Mohawk word "tkaronto" meaning "trees standing in the water".
• Wahnapitae: from the Anishinaabe waanabide, "be shaped like a hollow tooth".^[24]
• Wawa
• Wikwemikong: from the Anishinaabe wiikwemikong, "Bay of Beavers" from Nishnaabe word "Amik" meaning beaver. ^[24]

[edit] Quebec

• Abitibi
• Aguanish
• Ahuntsic district of Montreal
• Akpatok Island Akpaqtuq means "come down or lowers itself" in Inuktitut
• Amqui
• Arthabaska (and County)
• Réservoir Cabonga
• Réservoir Caniapiscau, and (River, Hunting camp, Regional county municipality)
• Causapscal
• Chibougamau or Chibouagmou:
• Chicoutimi: "End of the deep water" in Montagnais.
• Coaticook: Derived from the Abenaki language, meaning "river near the pines".
• Donnacona: Named after Chief Donnacona, 16th Century Iroquoian Chief of Stadacona.
• Lac Etchemin (and town)
• Gaspé (also County, Peninsula, and Cape): "land's end" in Mi'kmaq.
• Inukjuak Inugjuaq or Inujjuaq means "The Giant/Big Man" in Inuktitut
• Kahnawake
• Kamouraska County: Derived from the Abenaki language, meaning "birch bark here".
• Kangiqsualujjuaq Kangiqsualujjuaq means "the very large bay" in Inuktitut
• Kanesatake
• Lac Kénogami: Kenogami means "long water" in Montagnais.
• Rivière Koksoak Quqsuaq means "Yellowish" in Inuktitut
• Kuujjuaq Kuujjuaq means "the great river" in Inuktitut
• Lac Manitou: Derived from the Algonquian name Gitchi Manitou, which in their culture describes their Creator (the Great Spirit).
• Maniwaki
• Maskinongé (and County)
• Matane
• Matane County
• Matapédia County
• Réservoir and Rivière Matawin
• Magog: Derived from "Memphremagog", see Lake Memphremagog below.
• Manicouagan: "where there is bark"
• Mascouche
• Mégantic County (also Lake): Abenaki for "lake trout place".
• Lac Memphremagog: Meaning "beautiful waters" or "vast expanse of water" in Abenaki.
• Missisquoi County: Missisquoi is an Abenaki tribal name.
• Nastapoka Islands
• Oka
• Pohenegamook
• Pontiac County: Name of the famous 18th-century Ottawa Chief Pontiac.
• Quebec City (and County): The "narrowing of the river" refers to the point where the St. Lawrence River passes Quebec City.
• Rimouski (and County)
• Saguenay
• Salluit Salluit means "the thin ones" in Inuktitut
• Sayabec
• Shawinigan: "Portage at the crest" in Algonquian.
• Squatec
• Tadoussac
• Temiscamingue County
• Témiscouata County: Abenaki for "bottomless" or "extremely deep all around".
• Torngat Mountains Tuurngat means "Spirits or sometimes Evils" in Inuktitut
• Yamachiche
• Yamaska County

[edit] Saskatchewan

• Saskatoon: Derived from the Cree word misāskwatōmin, meaning Saskatoon berry - a fruit native to the area.

[edit] Yukon

• Aishihik Lake and Aishihik River: meaning "tail hanging down" in Southern Tutchone
• Ivvavik National Park: Ivavik means "birthplace" or "nursery" in Inuvialuktun
• Klondike and Klondike River: Derived from the Han language word for hammer stones used to fix salmon nets (Tr'ondëk).
• Kluane Lake and Kluane National Park and Reserve: from Łù'àn meaning big fish in Southern Tutchone
• Tagish Lake and Tagish, Yukon: from the name of the language and people (Tagish Kwan)
• Teslin Lake, Teslin River and Teslin, Yukon: from the Tlingit Deisleen, long narrow water
• Vuntut National Park

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Bright, William (2004). Native American Placenames of the United States. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.
• Central Quebec School Board
• Indian and Northern Affairs Canada
• Geographical Names of Canada

[edit] Resources

• The composition of Indian geographical names, illustrated from the Algonkin languages, Trumbull, J. Hammond (James Hammond), 1821-1897. [Hartford, Conn.? : s.n., 187-?

[edit] See also

• List of place names in New England of aboriginal origin
• List of Chinook Jargon placenames