disc number
{{Short description|Identifier used by the Government of Canada for Inuit}}
{{Indigenous Peoples of Canada}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}}
Disc numbers ({{langx|iu|ᐅᔭᒥᒃ}}, singular: ujamik, dual: ujamiik, plural: ujamiit; {{IPA|iu|u.ja.mi}} {{respell|OO|ya|mee}}) were used by the Government of Canada in lieu of surnames for Inuit. They were similar to dog tags.
Prior to the arrival of European customs, Inuit had no need of family names, and children were given names by the elders. However, by the 1940s the record-keeping requirements of outside entities such as the missions, traders and the government brought about change. In response to the government's needs, the Government of Canada decided on the disc number system.
Disc
The discs were roughly an inch across, burgundy, and made of pressed fibre or leather. They had a hole "to be threaded with a caribou thong and sewn into a parka for safekeeping", or they could be worn around the neck.{{cite magazine |last1=Nungak|author1-link=Zebedee Nungak|first1=Zebedee |year=2000 |editor1-last=Sackett |editor1-first=Sydney |title=E9-1956 |url=https://www.itk.ca/wp-content/uploads/2001/05/2000-0088-InuktitutMagazine-IUCANS-IULATN-EN.pdf |magazine=Inuktitut |language=en, iu |location=Ottawa, Canada |publisher=Inuit Tapirisat of Canada |publication-date= |volume= |issue=88 |pages=33–37 |issn=0705-8527}}{{cite news |last1=Goddard |first1=John |title=A man once known as W3-1119 |work=The Toronto Star |date=8 January 2006|quote=That number is part of my identity. I had a disc until about 10 years ago, and if I found it, I'd wear it (as a necklace). […] In Arctic communities, the numbers are appearing as vanity house numbers and some men wear an ujamik (disc number) as a ball-cap logo.}} The discs were stamped with "Eskimo Identification Canada" around the edge and the crown in the middle. Just below the crown was the number. The number was broken down into several parts, "E" for Inuit living east of Gjoa Haven and "W" for those in the west. This would be followed by a one or two digit number that indicated the area the person was from. The last set of numbers would identify the individual.{{cite web |title=Glossary |url=https://katilvik.com/glossary/ |website=KATILVIK |access-date=6 May 2021}} The discs were used in the Northwest Territories (which, at the time, included present-day Nunavut) from 1941 until 1978.
Thus a young woman who was known to her relatives as "Lutaaq", "Pilitaq", "Palluq", or "Inusiq", and had been baptized as "Annie", was under this system to become "Annie E7-121".{{cite web |last1=Hanson |first1=Ann Meekitjuk |author1-link=Ann Meekitjuk Hanson |title=What's in a name? |url=http://www.nunavut.com/nunavut99/english/name.html |website=Nunavut 99 |location=Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada |access-date=7 March 2007 |archive-date=7 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161107123650/http://www.nunavut.com/nunavut99/english/name.html |url-status=dead }}
For the most part, Inuit today do not miss the passing of the numbers, although some Inuit consider their discs to be personal artifacts of sentimental value.
This system was not used in Labrador, which had not yet joined Canada. All Labradorian Inuit who lacked modern surnames in 1893 were given surnames from the Moravian missionaries.{{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121002095952/http://www.thetelegram.com/Opinion/Columns/2011-06-18/article-2593551/%26lsquoFor-them%2C-it%26rsquos-all-about-the-name%26rsquo/1 |archive-date=2 October 2012 |url=http://www.thetelegram.com/Opinion/Columns/2011-06-18/article-2593551/&lsquoFor-them,-it&rsquos-all-about-the-name&rsquo/1 |title='For them, it's all about the name' |work=The Telegram |last=Rollman |first=Hans |date=18 June 2011 |access-date=26 December 2018}}
Cultural depictions
Today carvings and prints produced by Inuit artists may be seen with the disc number on them. The Inuk singer Susan Aglukark recorded the song E186 in 2000 on her album Unsung Heroes. Lucie Idlout recorded a CD called E5-770, My Mother's Name in 2005.{{cite journal |last1=Dunning |first1=Norma |author1-link=Norma Dunning |title=Reflections of a disk-less Inuk on Canada's Eskimo identification system |journal=Études/Inuit/Studies |date=31 May 2013 |volume=36 |issue=2 |pages=209–226 |doi=10.7202/1015985ar |url=https://www.erudit.org/en/journals/etudinuit/2012-v36-n2-etudinuit0607/1015985ar.pdf |issn=1708-5268|doi-access=free }}
Norma Dunning's book Kinauvit?: What’s Your Name? The Eskimo Disc System and a Daughter’s Search for Her Grandmother was shortlisted for the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing in 2023.[https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books/article-globe-reporter-josh-okane-among-shaughnessy-cohen-book-prize-nominees/ "Globe reporter Josh O’Kane among Shaughnessy Cohen book prize nominees"]. The Globe and Mail, 29 March 2023.
Project Surname
{{main|Project Surname}}
In 1965, Abe Okpik was appointed to sit on the 5th Northwest Territories Legislative Council, its first Inuk. In 1966, Simonie Michael became the council's first elected Inuk, declaring his intention to not be known by his disc number. The Government of the NWT decided to replace the disc numbers with names and Abe Okpik was appointed to Project Surname. From 1968 to 1971, Okpik toured the NWT and northern Quebec (Nunavik) recording the preferences of people. He was to be later given the Order of Canada in part because of his work with the surnames.{{cite news |last1=Bell |first1=Jim |title=Arctic residents say farewell to the humble name-giver |url=https://nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/65674arctic_residents_say_farewell_to_the_humble_name-giver/ |access-date=6 May 2021 |work=Nunatsiaq News |date=18 July 1997}}
See also
- Surname law
- Historical discussion in the section "Examples" in entry "Extinction of family names"
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-b373nCHlk/ Here's My Canada: Sheila Watt-Cloutier’s Canada]