About the Map

To mark the 150th anniversary of the Confederation of Canada, the Canadian-American Center at the University of Maine is pleased to release a new map, Coming Home to Indigenous Place Names in Canada. The map honors Indigenous place names in Canada and the assertion of Indigenous authority through place names.

Commissioned by Dr. Stephen J. Hornsby, Director of the Canadian-American Center, Coming Home to Indigenous Place Names in Canada was researched and designed by Dr. Margaret Wickens Pearce. The map depicts Indigenous place names across Canada, shared by permission of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities and people. The names express territorial rights and describe the shapes, sounds, and stories of sovereign lands. The names mark the locations of the gathering places, the communities, the places of danger and beauty, and the places where treaties were signed. The names are ancient and recent, both in and outside of time, and they express and assert the Indigenous presence across the Canadian landscape in Indigenous languages.

The map does not depict all of the Indigenous place names of Canada, nor are all Indigenous Nations and communities represented. Beyond the map’s names are thousands upon thousands more, an ever growing and expanding atlas of intimate, geographical knowledge and experience.

The intention of the map is to create respect for Indigenous homelands and sovereignties, and a feeling for and understanding of the place names.

The Canadian-American Center does not profit from the production and sale of this map. Members of the public are invited to purchase a copy for the cost of printing and postage. Contributors of place names to the map are invited to email the Canadian-American Center for a discounted rate.

To purchase a copy, please visit our online store!