Research, Library and Archives
Nunatop : Inuit place names
History of the project
Even before 1981, place names collecting had started in Inukjuak and in Kangiqsujuaq. in 1981, Avataq officially took over the responsibility of the project, and Professor Ludger Müller-Wille (Department of Geography, McGill University and Indigenous Name Survey) collected 7797 place names in Nunavik. He was assisted by Helen Oweetaluktuk Cumberbatch and Johnny Palliser, both from Inukjuak. After long hours of transcription and verification, the Gazetteer was published in 1987. Between 1988 and 1995, Avataq published 6 map series covering 6 communities.
Contact person
Nunatop Project
Contact :
Elsa Cencig
Institut culturel Avataq
360 - 4150 rue Ste Catherine Ouest
Westmount (Québec), H3Z 2Y5
Tél : (514) 989-9031 poste 233
Fax : (514) 989-8789
Email : nunatop@avataq.qc.ca
Financing & collaborations
Data collection (1981 to 1987) and the publication of the Gazetteer were made possible through a grant from the Ministère des Affaires culturelles du Québec (now the Ministère de la Culture et des communications du Québec), de la Commission de toponymie du Québec, the Department of Indians Affairs and the Canadian North, the Secretary of State, McGill University and the Wolkswagenwerk Foundation (Germany). The publications of the 6 map series were made possible through the contributions of the Department of Indians Affairs and the Canadian North.
Avataq is currently looking for funds to continue the map series for the other 8 communities, and to edit a new pressing of the Inukjuak maps, which are currently out of print.
