Nunavut gov't to rename 15 place names containing Indigenous slurs

WARNING: This article discusses an offensive slur. The word is included once for context, then otherwise avoided.

Years after a push to rename a cluster of islands named with a racial slur in Nunavut, the territorial government says it's working on it. 

The Old Squaw Islands, the official name recognized by the Nunavut government, are located approximately 40 kilometres southeast of Iqaluit.

That hits close to home for Madeleine d'Argencourt – both geographically and personally.

"[The term] is derogatory. My first-born daughter is half First Nations," she said. 

The Inuk woman, who lives in Iqaluit, said she's been called the s-word before down south. It is a racial slur to describe First Nations and other Indigenous women.

Now, it's one of 15 derogatory place names the Nunavut government is looking to officially rename within the next year, as outlined in its 2024-26 business plan.

Madeleine d'Argencourt said it shouldn't take years to make the change – and there's no guarantee that will be done by 2025 as the Nunavut government says.

She points to a street in Apex she successfully got renamed to Angel Street.

"Changing a name is straightforward paperwork. I called three people, and got it done in one night." 

But Kaalai Whittle, the Nunavut government's director of heritage, said there is a lengthy process, which includes co-ordination with federal officials to formally make the change on the map, as well as community consultations. 

Now, she said, the territorial government has the proper resources to put the process in motion.

"It has been a priority," she said. "But we're making it a priority even more so, since we have the resources to tackle and work on this." 

Iqaluit-Sinaa MLA Janet Pitsiulaq Brewster said when she first found out about the name of the islands near Iqaluit in 2022, she raised the matter in the legislature.