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LIST OF PLACE NAMES IN CANADA OF ABORIGINAL ORIGIN

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.
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]

Contents
Provinces and territories
Alberta
British Columbia
A-B
C
E-M
K-L
M-N
O-Q
S
T
U-Z
Manitoba
New Brunswick
Newfoundland and Labrador
Nova Scotia
Northwest Territories
Nunavut
Ontario
Quebec
Saskatchewan
Yukon
Notes
References
See also

Provinces and territories



Manitoba: Either derived from the Cree word ''manito-wapow'' 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, ''Kisiskatchewani Sipi'', meaning "swift flowing river".

Yukon: from some Athabaskan language, e.g. Koyukon ''yookkene'' or Lower Tanana ''yookuna''.[8]
Alberta


Amisk: "Beaver" in Cree.

Athabasca River, Lake Athabasca, Athabasca Falls, Mount Athabasca, Athabasca: "Where there are reeds" in Cree

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)

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
British Columbia

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

Ashnola River: thought to mean "place of trading" in Okanagan

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

★ 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 First Nation, 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 First Nations people at this town use for themselves, /pəlbálá/.
C


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 wofd for "steelhead lake"

Cheakamus River: Squamish language 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).

Checleset Bay: from the Nootka (Nuu-chah-nulth) word for "people of cut on the beach".

Cheewat River: from the Nitinaht dialect of Nuu-chah-nulth for "having an island nearby".

Cheekye River and the locality of Cheekye near Squamish: 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)

Chemainus: Named after the native shaman and prophet ''Tsa-meeun-is'', which means "Broken Chest" or "bitten breast"(Halkemeylem 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: "ochre river people" in the Chilcotin language

Chilkat Pass: "salmon storehouse" in the Tlingit language

Chilko River: "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".

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 Salish. Derived from the name of the local branch of the Sto:lo people ''Khwayquitlam''. Another and more usual translation is "stinking of fish slime" and "place of stinking fish".

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 Inlet, Cunshewa Head: Cumshewa was a prominent Haida chief in the late 19th 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)".
E-M


★ 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: named after the Edzertza family of the Tahltan people, who live nearby.

Esquimalt: North Straits Salish for "the place of gradually shoaling water". Derived from their word ''Es-whoy-malth''.

★ Gananoque, Ontario "water running over rocks."
K-L


Kamloops: English translation of Shuswap word ''Tk'emlups'', meaning "where the rivers meet".

Kelowna: "Grizzly bear" in the Okanagan language.

Keremeos

Kootenay: derived from the proper name of the Kootenay people, Ktunaxa

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").
M-N


Malahat

Masset

Matsqui:

Metchosin: English translation of ''Smets-Schosen'', meaning "place of stinking fish".

Nakusp

Nanaimo: Named after the Snuneymuxw people.

Nechako River: An anglicization of [netʃa koh], its name in the indigenous Carrier language which means "big river".
O-Q


Okanagan:

Osoyoos: "Narrowing of the waters".

Penticton: "Place to stay forever" in Okanagan.

Qualicum: "Where the dog salmon run" in Comox.

Quilchena:
S


Saanich:

Sechelt: the town is named after the First Nations people who live in the area, the Shishalh

Shalalth: "the lake" in the St'at'imcets language of the Lillooet people

Sicamous

Skaha Lake: from the Okanagan language word for "dog" (''sqexe'')

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).

Similkameen:

Sooke: named after the T'Souke First Nation people who live in the area

Spuzzum, from the local variant of the Chinook Jargon ''spatsum'', a reed used in basketry

Squamish: The town is named after the First Nations people who live in the area

Stein River: Adjacent to Lytton BC, "Stein" is an adaptation of the Nlaka'pamux (Thompson) ''staygn'' - "hidden place".
T


Taghum, British Columbia, ''taghum'' is the Chinook Jargon word for "six" (Taghum is six miles from Nelson

Tofino:

Tulameen: Nlaka'pamux (Thompson) language for "red earth", a reference to the ochre found here, which was highly prized for use in ceremonial life.

Tsawwassen: "Looking toward the sea" in Coast Salish

Tyhee Lake Provincial Park: ''Tyhee'' is a variant of the usual Chinook Jargon ''tyee'' - "chief, big, great, important, boss"
U-Z


Ucluelet: "Safe harbour" in the language of the Nuu-chah-nulth.

Whonnock

Yoho National Park - "Yoho" means "how amazing" or "it is beautiful"

★ Zagoddetchino Mountain

★ Zus Mountain

★ Zymoetz River
Manitoba


Grand Rapids: Translation of Cree word ''misepawistik'', meaning "rushing rapids".

Wapusk National Park

Winnipeg: "Dirty water" or "murky water" from the word ''win-nipi'' of the Cree.
New Brunswick


Apohaqui

Aroostook

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'
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:
# it may be a corruption of the name ''Maarcoux'', after Pierre Marcoux, a French trader in Labrador in the late 1700's[3]; or
# 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]
Nova Scotia


Antigonish: Derivied from the Mi'kmaq word ''nalegitkoonechk'', meaning "where branches are torn off".

Cobequid

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

Musquodoboit

Pugwash: Derivied from the Mi'kmaq word ''pagweak'', meaning "shallow water".

Shubenacadie

Stewiacke

Tatamagouche: Derivied from the Mi'kmaq word ''takumegooch'', meaning "meeting of the waters".

Tracadie

Wagmatcook

Whycocomagh
Northwest Territories


Aklavik

Aulavik National Park: ''Aulavik'' means "place where people travel" in Inuvialuktun.

Inuvik: "The place of man" in Inuvialuktun.

Somba K'e; the Dogrib name for Yellowknife means "where the money is".

Tuktoyaktuk: "resembling a caribou" in Inuvialuktun.

Tuktut Nogait National Park - ''Tuktut Nogait'' means "young cariboo" in Inuvialuktun.
Nunavut


Auyuittuq National Park - Auyuittuq means "the land that never melts".

Iqaluit: "fish" in Inuktitut.

Nahanni National Park Reserve et al. - Nahanni means "spirit" in Dene

Pangnirtung is derived from ''Pangniqtuuq'': "the place of many bull caribou"

Quttinirpaaq National Park - ''Quttinirpaaq'' means "top of the world" in Inuktitut.

Sirmilik National Park - ''Sirmilik'' means "the place of glaciers" in Inuktitut.

Ukkusiksalik National Park
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

Kanata

Kapuskasing

Manitoulin Island: ''Manitoulin'' means "spirit island" in the Ojibwe language.

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".11

Ohsweken

Oshawa: from the Ojibwe term ''aazhaway'', meaning "crossing to the other side of a river or lake" or just "(a)cross".[10][11]

Ottawa: "To buy" from the word ''adaawe'' in the Anishinaabe language; adapted as the name of the Odawa people.

Penetanguishene

Petawawa

Pukaskwa National Park

Temagami: from the Anishinaabe word ''dimiigami'', "deep water(s)".11

Toronto: from an Iroquoian language, but of uncertain derivation.[12]

Wahnapitae: from the Anishinaabe ''waanabide'', "be shaped like a hollow tooth".11

Wawa

Wikwemikong: from the Anishinaabe ''wiikwemikong'', "bay with a sloping bottom".11
Quebec


Abitibi Region

Aguanish

Ahuntsic district of Montreal

Akpatok Island

Amqui

Arthabaska (and County)

Réservoir Cabonga

Réservoir Caniapiscau, and (River, Hunting camp, Regional county municipality)

Causapscal

Chibougamau or Chibouagmou:

Chicoutimi (and County): "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

Kahnawake

Kamouraska County: Derived from the Abenaki language, meaning "birch bark here".

Kangiqsualujjuaq

Kanesatake

Lac Kénogami: ''Kenogami'' means "long water" in Montagnais.

Rivière Koksoak

Kuujjuaq

Malartic

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 (and Region, River)

Salluit

Sayabec

Shawinigan: "Portage at the crest" in Algonquian.

Squatec

Tadoussac

Temiscamingue County

Témiscouata County: Abenaki for "bottomless" or "extremely deep all around".

Torngat Mountains

Yamachiche

Yamaska County
Saskatchewan


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

Notes


1. Bruce G. Trigger and James F. Pendergast. (1978), “Saint-Lawrence Iroquoians”, in ''Handbook of North American Indians''. Volume 15. Washington: Smithsonian Institution, pp. 357-361
2. Jacques Cartier. (1545).''Relation originale de Jacques Cartier''. Paris, Tross, 1863 edition, page 48.
3. Alan Rayburn. (2001). ''Naming Canada: stories about Canadian place names'', 2nd ed. (ISBN 0-8020-8293-9) University of Toronto Press: Toronto; p. 13.
4. Mithun, Marianne (1999). The Languages of Native North America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
5. Bright (2004:78)
6. Rayburn, ''op. cit'', p. 14.
7. Afable, Patricia O. and Madison S. Beeler (1996). "Place Names". In "Languages", ed. Ives Goddard. Vol. 17 of ''Handbook of North American Indians'', ed. William C. Sturtevant. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, pg. 191
8. Bright (2004:583)
9. Bright (2004:547-8)
10. Rayburn, Alan, ''Place Names of Ontario'', Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1997, p. 258.
11. Freelang Ojibwe Dictionary
12. Bright (2004:508-9)

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

See also



List of place names in New England of aboriginal origin

List of Chinook Jargon placenames

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