Throughout Mi’kma’ki (traditional Mi’kmaq lands), places were often named to describe landscape features, to aid in navigation, and to locate specific resources. Names like Pilmuipke’katik (where mint grows along the brook) speak to a traditional way of naming lands and water features that was useful and practical for the people of the day.
The Ktaqmkuk Place Names Project aims to capture and record this information, these place names and what they mean, for our knowledge, and for future generations. In this way, we better understand who we are, and where we come from.
The Ktaqmkuk Place Names Project has been evolving since the Federation of Newfoundland Indians (FNI) first Traditional Use Study in 1999, and through subsequent TUS completed by both the FNI and Qalipu. Recently, Qalipu partnered with the College of the North Atlantic and Memorial University’s Grenfell Campus to compile information into an interactive map which includes more than eighty place names collected from community members. The map includes translations, Mi’kmaq pronunciations, and other information which is now available on our website. We encourage you to have some fun exploring the map which you can find linked below.
As an extension to this project, we would like to make the map more interactive by adding photos, videos, audio and stories.
Are you from Nujio’qon (St. George’s) and have a story to tell about this place, the earliest recorded Mi’kmaq settlement on the island?
Or maybe you’ve spent time on the country and have pictures to share of Sko’pa’qan Pim’tin (Lookout Mountain). What about the little-known community of Nanetetig (Muddy Hole)?
We would love to hear from you on this next phase of the Ktaqmkuk Mi’kmaq Place Names Project. Please get in touch!
Please contact:
Nicole Travers
ntravers@qalipu.ca
tel. (709) 634-3856