Kuujjuaq street names mirror history and geography

KUUJJUAQ — For more than 15 years, Kuujjuaq streets have had what Iqaluit streets still lack: names.

Choosing street names was a relatively stress-free process, recalls Ian Robertson, long-time secretary-treasurer of Kuujjuaq.

“We sent out a road map to everyone,” Robertson said. “The names were sent back in, and then the council picked some, and off we went.”

The street names were selected to reflect Kuujjuaq’s geography, traditional place names, important people and history.

“There was a fair amount of discussion,” Robertson said. “But no one was upset. We kind of took it in stride. The worst was paying for the signs, when you put up 150 at the same time.”

Makiuk Street and Watt Avenue are named after the families who traditionally lived in those sections of town.

One street honours a Hudson Bay manager named Ploughman, while another alley, tucked in by the Anglican Church, remembers the Reverend Jamie Clark.

“Siuralikuuk” reflects this street’s location near the brook that flows through the community. Kaivivvik Circle has always been a popular circular road.

Some street names reflect the past or present vocation of the neighbourhood, such as Chopper Crescent, located where the helicopter company Heli-Québec once had its headquarters. There’s Airport Road that leads to . . . the airport, Makivik Crescent near Makivik Corporation’s head office and Flood Square nestled down by the river.

Fairview Street has a great view, and Dustville Street is named after the dust that settled during the summer in this neighbourhood before streets were paved in the mid-1990s.

“I never tell people I live on Dustville!” admitted one resident who prefers to use her house number instead.

Even though it’s been years since their streets gained names, Kuujjuamiut still don’t use their street addresses much. They generally refer to house numbers, who their neighbours are or to the general area they live in, such as “up town,” “down town,” “Heli-Québec” or “across the creek.”

This enduring tendency doesn’t make it easy for the police, doctors or firefighters to find a house in a pinch.

“The worst thing for us is the emergency services,” said Robertson, who is also the chief of Kuujjuaq’s volunteer fire department.

Because the houses were numbered according to when they were built, the numbers are far from regular.

“All of a sudden you’ll get some out of sequence,” Robertson said. “House 20 next to House 200.”

Kuujjuaq may re-number the community’s houses to make them easier to locate.

Robertson said Kuujjuaq also plans to name streets in newer neighbourhoods.

Most communities in Nunavik have already given names to their streets, although in the regional telephone book, house numbers are still listed as addresses in every community but Kuujjuaraapik.

There, the street names include a smattering of places, people and cultures: Ninguaraaluk, Qumaaluk, Tukimuatuq, Kanguk, Talinniq, Mickpegak, Tuulik, Kativik, A, B, C, 7, 8, Sikkitaq, Henri Jamet, Sinnittavik, Uviluk, and St. Edmunds.