Whalers’ names for Inuit

I’ve enjoyed writing about names and naming recently, so let’s keep it going.

Last time, it was Inuit names for white people. This time, I will write about white people’s names for Inuit — specifically, the names given to Inuit by whalers.

The excuse was usually the same — the Inuit names were too long or too hard to pronounce. And so the newcomers — the whalers — gave them nicknames, sometimes innocuous, sometimes derogatory, sometimes funny.

From my study of whaling, I sense that American whalers gave nicknames more readily than their Scottish counterparts.

In Hudson Bay, whaling was concentrated in the area around Repulse Bay, the area where Aivilingmiut lived. They were joined by Qairnirmiut, Iglulingmiut and immigrant Nattilingmiut who moved from the Pelly Bay area to trade or work for whalers.

Shoofly was named after a popular American song. (Photo by A. P. Low, Library and Archives Canada, PA-53548)

Whalers of each nationality had a predominant Inuk man who worked with them and was, in effect, a liaison between them and the other Inuit.

For the Scottish whalers, that man was Angutimmarik — his name means “the real man” — but the whalers called him Scotch Tom.

His counterpart working for the Americans was Tasseok, also known as Ippaktuq, but the whalers called him Harry.

Capt. George Comer of the ship Era described Harry as “a man who is far more intelligent than any native now living in the various tribes of whom I have taken casts. His father was an Igloolic [Iglulingmiut] and mother was a Kiacknuckmuite [Qaernirmiut].”

Other men who worked for the Americans were given names like Ben Tucker (after the ship A. R. Tucker), Stonewall Jackson (after a Confederate general in the American Civil War), and Santa Anna (after the Mexican general who defeated Davey Crockett and American forces at the Alamo in Texas); this name lives on in the Inuit surname Satiana.

The Inuit name Tapatai is often said to come from Starboard Eye. Another man was called Cock-eyed Jack. 

Scotty — pronounced Seecottie at the time — was an Inuk who became well-known as an RCMP Special constable; he had probably worked for the Scottish whalers. A tall man named Siattiaq was known to the whalers as Bye And Bye. The phrase was commonly used to mean “sometime in the future,” and was the title of a Christian hymn, In the Sweet By and By.

Some men were simply given English names, like Ben or Charlie. Auqqajaq was a man who worked for the famous Capt. Comer; he saved Comer’s life in 1894. Comer called him Ben.

Auqqajaq’s son by Niviatsarnaq was Aullanaaq. Even that simple name was too much for the whalers. They named him John Ell, after a famous American boxer, John L. Sullivan. The nickname stuck; the large Ell family living in various communities in Nunavut are the descendants of John Ell.

Angutimmarik and his wife adopted a boy called Tom Luce by the whalers, named after the owner of the whaling company. Comer wrote, “This Tom Luce eats with me at the table sitting on my knee.”

His Inuktitut name was Ukpaktuuq. Over time, Luce changed to Bruce and he became known as Tommy Bruce. The name is preserved in a Kivalliq family today.

A well-known man, known as a great traveller, Atungila, was known unflatteringly as Blockhead. 

Whalers’ names were not restricted to men. Auqqajaq’s wife Siusarnaq was known to Inuit more commonly by her aqausiq, or pet name, Niviatsarnaq. But to whalers she was known as Shoofly. The name comes from the words of a well-known American song of the time — “Shoofly, don’t bother me. Shoofly don’t bother me. Shoofly, don’t both me. I don’t want your company.”

Her mother Taqqalik was known as Queen Emma.

Niviaqsarjuk was called Hattie.

Other women were known as Jumbo, Katy, Rosa, Old Mama Brown and Mrs. Cooper. One woman was called Tiddley-Winks.

I will write about the whalers’ names for Inuit in the Baffin Region another time.

Taissumani is an occasional column that recalls events of historical interest. Kenn Harper is a historian and writer who lived in the Arctic for more than 50 years. He is the author of “Minik: The New York Eskimo” and “Thou Shalt Do No Murder,” among other books. Feedback? Send your comments and questions to kennharper@hotmail.com.