A list of the street names of Inuvik and a description
of their origin.
ADAM
ROAD:
Named
after Father Joseph Adams, Roman Catholic Priest who co-designed
and helped build the Roman Catholic "Igloo Church",
the most photographed building in Inuvik.
AIRPORT
ROAD:
Named
because the road leads to the Inuvik Airport.
ALDER
DRIVE:
Named for the tree which is common to the area.
ARCTIC
ROAD:
Named after the "C.G.S. Arctic" which travelled
in the Arctic waters from 1906-1911.
ARCTIC
STREET:
Named
after the Arctic Circle which is 195 kilometres south of
Inuvik.
BAY
STREET:
Named
after the Hudson's Bay Company.
BERGER
STREET:
Named
after the Berger Inquiry.
BOMPAS
STREET:
Named
after William C. Bompas, the first Anglican bishop of the
Mackenzie Region in 1884.
BONNET
PLUME ROAD:
Named
after the Bonnet Plume family which lived in the Fort MacPherson,
Arctic Red River areas since the 1890's. One member of the
family was Stephen Bonnet Plume who was a member of the
first RCMP Patrol between Dawson City and Fort MacPherson
in 1904-1905.
BOOT
LAKE ROAD:
Named
after the lake which the road overlooks. The lake was named "Boot" because
the lake is in the shape of a boot.
BREYNAT
STREET:
Named
after the Roman Catholic Bishop Breynat who in 1901 became
the first head of the Vicariate of the Mackenzie.
CAMSELL
PLACE:
Named
after Julian Camsell who was the Chief Factor for the Hudson's
Bay Company Post at Fort McPherson in the 1890's.
CARMICHAEL
DRIVE:
Named after the Carmichael family who were among the first
families to live in Inuvik.
CARN
ROAD:
Named
after the Carn Construction Company.
CEMETERY
ROAD:
Named
because the road leads to the Town Cemetery.
CENTENNIAL
STREET:
Named
to commemorate the 100th birthday of the NWT.
COUNCIL
CRESCENT:
Named
after the Council of the Northwest Territories, which during
their 15th session proclaimed Inuvik as a community on July
18, 1958.
DISTRIBUTOR
STREET:
Named
after the paddle wheel, steamboat the "S.S. Distributor".
The ship was owned by the Hudson's Bay Company and was the
largest board on the MacKenzie River in 1918.
DOLPHIN
STREET:
Named
after the ship the "Dolphin" which was one of
the four ships used by Sir John Frankin for the second expedition
to the Polar Sea in 1825-1827.
DUCK
LAKE ROAD:
Named
after the lake which the road runs beside.
EAST
CHANNEL ROAD:
Named
after the East Channel of the Mackenzie River which the
road will run beside.
FIRTH
STREET:
Named
after John Firth who lived in Fort McPherson where he was
employee/manager of the Hudson's Bay Company from 1871 -
1920. John Firth in 1912 established the posts of Aklavik
and Kittigazuit for the Hudson's Bay Company.
FRANKLIN
ROAD:
Named
after the Arctic explorer Sir John Franklin.
FUTURE
ROAD:
Named
because the road will be built in the future.
HIGH
ROAD:
Named
because the road runs along high ground.
INDUSTRIAL
ROAD:
Named
after the industrial subdivision which is serviced by the
road.
INUIT
ROAD:
Originally
named "Innuit Road" after the Peterhead whaler "Innuit" which
first sailed in 1857 but was wrecked in 1859. The spelling
was changed to "Inuit" in the 1975 By-Law #3205
which was the first by-law to officially adopt the names
of the streets in Inuvik.
LOW
ROAD:
Named
because the road runs along low ground.
KING ROAD:
Named after Cliff King who was a teacher in Inuvik for over thirty years.
KINGALOK
PLACE:
Comes
from the word "qingalik" which means "king
eider duck" in Uummarmiut dialect of Inuvialuktun.
KINGMINGYA
ROAD:
Comes
from the Inuvialuktun word meaning "cranberry" which
is a common plant in the area and historically was an important
food source for the people of the Delta.
KUGMALIT
ROAD:
Comes
from the word "Kogmollicks" which was the name
the whalers in the late 1800's called the Mackenzie Inuit.
LAGOON
ROAD:
Named
after the lagoon which the road runs beside.
Gwich’in Road: Named
after the Loucheux Indians who moved here and still live
in Inuvik. Loucheux was the colloquial term applied to the
Kutchin Indians by voyageurs in the early 1800's. It is
French for "slant-eyed" people.
MACKENZIE
ROAD:
Named
after Sir Alexander Mackenzie who visited the site where
Inuvik now exists on July 19, 1789 on his historic trip
down the Mackenzie River.
MACKENZIE
SQUARE:
Named after Sir Alexander Mackenzie
School. The first public school in Inuvik.
MARINE
BY-PASS ROAD:
Named
because it is the by-pass road and will connect to the highway
leading to the Arctic Coast.
MILLEN
STREET:
Named
after the R.C.M.P. Constable Spike Millen of the Arctic
Red River detachment who led the fourth attempt to capture
Albert Johnson the "Mad Trapper of Rat River" in
January 1932. Constable Millen was killed in the gunfight
by Albert Johnson.
MUSKRAT
STREET:
Named
after the animal which is common to the area and is the
prime animal trapped by people in the Mackenzie Delta.
NANUK
PLACE:
Comes
from "nanuk" which means "a polar bear couple" in
the Uummarmiut dialect of Inuvialuktun and after the 1922
film by Robert Flaherty "Nanook of the North".
NATALA
DRIVE:
Comes
from the English translation of the Loucheux word "natialis" which
means "the place were several small rivers come together",
referring to Point Separation which marks the beginning
of the Mackenzie Delta.
NAVY
ROAD:
Named
after the Royal Canadian Navy who were amongst the original
inhabitants of Inuvik. The Canadian Armed Forces maintained
a station in Inuvik from 1961-1986. Lion Street, one of the
original streets, became part of Navy Road in the 1970's to
avoid confusion.
NO
NAME LAKE ROAD:
Named
after the lake which the road runs beside.
NT
ROAD:
Named
after the Northern Transportation Company Ltd.
OOKPIK
STREET:
Named
after the popular Inuit handicraft and is the English translation
of the work "ukpik" which means "snowy owl" in
the Uummarmiut dialect of Inuvialuktun.
RAVEN
STREET:
Named
after the bird which is common to the area.
RELIANCE
STREET:
Named
after the ship the "Reliance" which was one of
the four ships used by Sir John Franklin for the second
expedition to the Polar Sea in 1835-1827.
RIVER
ROAD:
Named
after the Mackenzie River which the road runs beside.
RUYANT
CRESCENT:
Named after Father Max Ruyant, Roman
Catholic Priest who for 25 years operated the Grollier
Hall student residence in Inuvik.
SPRUCE
HILL DRIVE:
Named after the tree which is common
to the area.
TANK
ROAD:
Named after the fuel tanks which the
road runs beside.
TOWER
STREET:
Named after the CBC antenna towers
located adjacent to the road.
TUMA
DRIVE:
Named after Amos Tumma (1889-1975) a
well-known Inuit who lived in the Delta and finally in
Inuvik. He was 86 when he died.
TUNUNUK
DRIVE:
Named after Tununuk point on the south
tip of Richards Island which was an ancient burial ground.
UNION
STREET:
Named after the ship the "Union" which
was one of the four ships used by Sir John Frankin for
the second expedition to the Polar Sea in 1825-1827.
WATER
STREET:
Named after the location of the water
intakes on the Mackenzie River which provides Inuvik with
water during the winter.
WOLVERINE
ROAD:
Named after the animal which is common
to the area.