Indigenous place names
Most, if not all of the natural and cultural places administered by Parks Canada, have been used by Indigenous peoples long before Canada became a country. These culturally significant sites are as vital as ever to Indigenous culture and connection to the land. Many heritage places honour Indigenous histories and connections through the place name. Place names and the stories associated with them are a source of critical knowledge; they identify where resources can be found, refer to past events, and describe the landscape.
Newfoundland and Labrador
Akami-Uapishkᵁ-KakKasuak-Mealy Mountains National Park Reserve
The traditional names of Mealy Mountains are Akami-Uapishkᵁ, an Innu word meaning White Mountains across, and KakKasuak, a Labrador Inuit word for mountain. For the Innu, Inuit, and others, the landscapes of this outstanding natural region hold great cultural significance.
Visit Akami-Uapishkᵁ-KakKasuak-Mealy Mountains National Park Reserve
Northwest Territories
Aulavik National Park
Aulavik, meaning “ place where people travel ” in Inuvialuktun, protects more than 12,000 square kilometres of arctic lowlands on the north end of Banks Island. The park encompasses a variety of landscapes from fertile river valleys to polar deserts, buttes and badlands, rolling hills, and bold seacoasts.
Nunavut
Auyuittuq National Park
Auyuittuq - Ow-you-eet-took
The Inuktitut word, "auyuittuq" means "the land that never melts". Auyuittuq epitomizes the majestic beauty of the Arctic. Imposing landscape of jagged mountain peaks, deep valleys, perpetual ice and fjords with vertical walls symbolize the Inuit belief that time is eternal.
Saskatchewan
Batoche National Historic Site
Batoche is the home of Metis culture and heritage and commemorates the armed conflict between the Canadian government and the Metis provisional government led by Louis Riel and Gabriel Dumont.
British Columbia
Gitwangak Battle Hill National Historic Site
Gitwangak, which means People of the Place of Rabbits. Pronunciation – Git – wan – gaa. "Gitwangak" is the correct Gitsenimx language spelling of the name of the First Nation that built the fort in the 18th century. "Battle Hill" is the name many locals use to describe the site.
British Columbia
Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site
Gwaii Haanas - Gw-eye Haa-nass
Gwaii Haanas means "islands of beauty" in the Haïda language and is a UNESCO World Heritage site home to two dozen cedar totem poles that represent family and clan crests like eagle and bear; carved more than 100 years ago.
Visit Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site
Yukon
Ivvavik National Park
Ivvavik – Eev-vah-veek
Ivvavik means "a place for giving birth, a nursery" in Inuvialuktun, the language of the Inuvialuit, the Inuit of the Western Arctic.
Nova Scotia
Kejimkujik National Park and National Historic Site
Kejimkujik – Ke-jim-koo-jik
The origin of the word "Kejimkujik" is undoubtedly Mi'kmaq, most likely meaning "lake of good spirits" or "lake of fairies".
Yukon
Kluane National Park and Reserve
Kluane - Kloo-wah-nee
The Southern Tutchone name for Kluane Lake is “Łù’àn Män” meaning "big fish lake". The coastal Tlingits, who were trading partners, called the area “ùxh-àni” meaning "whitefish country". The name 'Kluane' was derived from these two names by early settlers.
New Brunswick
Kouchibouguac National Park
Kouchibouguac – Koo-she-boo-gwak
Kouchibouguac, meaning "river of long tides" in Mi'kmaq, is where fresh and salt water meet.
Northwest Territories
Nááts'ihch'oh National Park Reserve
Nááts'ihch'oh - NAT-chee-oh
The expression "Nááts'ihch'onOh" in the Shúhtagot'ine language refers to the mountain's unique jagged shape and sharp peak resembling the spine of a porcupine.
Northwest Territories
Nahanni National Park Reserve
Home of the Dehcho First Nations, whose ancestors have called Nah?ą Dehé home since time before memory.
British Columbia
Nan Sdins National Historic Site
Nan Sdins was the name of the most powerful of the village's chiefs in the mid-19th century and came to be used as the village's name as a result of the practice of ship captains referring to villages by the name of the headman or chief at the location.
Quebec
Obadjiwan-Fort Témiscamingue National Historic Site
Algonquin, or Anicinabe, which means "men from this earth", occupy the territory for six millennia. For nearly two centuries, Obadjiwan–Fort Témiscamingue was a theatre where English and French rivals fought to control the fur trade too. This important trading post on the shore of Lake Témiscamingue witnessed a stream of trappers arriving to sell their furs to merchants and traders who shipped them on to Europe.
Ontario
Pukaskwa National Park
Pukaskwa - Puk-a-saw
There are many spellings of the word "Pukaskwa" and many legends about the meaning of the word. Some contend that the word is descriptive terminology related to cleaning fish. Others suggest it could mean "eaters of fish", "something evil" or, in contrast, "safe harbour." Today, the word has become synonymous with the wild shoreline of Lake Superior known as Pukaskwa National Park.
Nunavut
Qausuittuq National Park
Qausuittuq - Kow-soo-ee-took
One of Canada's newest national parks, Qausuittuq means “place where the sun doesn't rise” in Inuktitut, in reference to the fact that the sun stays below the horizon for several months in the winter at this latitude.
Nunavut
Quttinirpaaq National Park
Quttinirpaaq - Koo-tin-ir-pa-ak
In Inuktitut, "Quttinirpaaq" means "highest", "way up there" or "top of the world".
Alberta
Rocky Mountain House National Historic Site
Two centuries ago Indigenous Peoples and European traders shared this land on the rugged western frontier. Indigenous peoples, notably the Niitsitapi and the Piikani brought their furs to this very spot to trade with European explorers.
Northwest Territories
Saoyú-Ɂehdacho National Historic Site
Saoyú-Ɂehdacho - Sahw-you Eh-da-choh
Saoyú and Ɂehdacho mean "Grizzly Bear Mountain" and "Scented Grass Hills" respectively. Saoyú-Ɂehdacho National Historic Site celebrates the traditional lifestyles of the Sahtúgot’įnę – “the people of the Sahtú.”
Nunavut
Sirmilik National Park
In Inuktitut Sirmilik means "place of glaciers," as it represents Bylot Island's plethora of glaciers and ice caps.
Prince Edward Island
Skmaqn - Port-la-Joye - Fort Amherst National Historic Site
Skmaqn is the Mi’kmaq word means “the waiting place”. The site's name was changed from Port-la-Joye—Fort Amherst NHS to Skmaqn—Port-la-Joye—Fort Amherst NHS on February 16, 2018 to honour its historic and contemporary Indigenous connections.
Visit Skmaqn - Port-la-Joye - Fort Amherst National Historic Site
Nunavut
Tallurutiup Imanga National Marine Conservation Area
Tallurutiup Imanga - Tal-loo-roo-tee-oop Ee-man-ga
Tallurutiup Imanga is an area that has been used since time immemorial by the Inuit. “Tallurutiup,” the Inuktitut term for Devon Island, represents the idea of a woman’s chin with tattoo marks, likely a reference to the appearance of certain streaks on the land. “Imanga” means a body of water.
Newfoundland and Labrador
Torngat Mountains National Park
Torngat Mountains National Park is the traditional homeland of the Inuit of Labrador and Nunavik. Inuit have traveled and lived among the deep fjords, towering mountains and wide valleys of this land for centuries, following the migratory paths of the whale, polar bear, and caribou.
Northwest Territories
Tuktut Nogait National Park
Over 400 archaeological sites have been discovered across the park, indicating 1,500 years of Inuit habitation. The Inuvialuit continue to practice traditional harvesting and are also active as interpretive guides within the park today.
Nunavut
Ukkusiksalik National Park
Ukkusiksalik - Oo-koo-sik-sa-lik
Ukkusiksalik means "place to find stone to make pots" in Inuktitut, the language of the Inuit of Nunavut.
Yukon
Vuntut National Park
Vuntut Gwitchin translates to “people of the lakes” – Gwitchin meaning people; Vuntut referring to Van Tat, the Old Crow Flats, a network of two thousand plus shallow lakes. For countless generations, the Vuntut Gwitchin have lived in the Old Crow Flats and Porcupine River areas in the northern Yukon.
Manitoba
Wapusk National Park
Wapusk is the Cree word for "white bear", and as the meaning indicates, the 11,475-square-kilometre (4,430 sq mi) park protects one of the world's largest known polar bear maternity denning areas.
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