Disc numbers, or ujamiit or ujamik in the

Inuit language The Inuit languages are a closely related group of indigenous American languages traditionally spoken across the North American Arctic and adjacent subarctic, reaching farthest south in Labrador. The related Yupik languages (spoken in weste ...

, were used by the

Government of Canada The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown ...

in lieu of surnames for

Inuit Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories ...

and were similar to

dog tag Dog tag is an informal but common term for a specific type of identification tag worn by military personnel. The tags' primary use is for the identification of casualties; they have information about the individual written on them, including ...

s. 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, it 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. The discs were stamped with " Eskimo Identification Canada" around the edge and the

crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...

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 Gjoa Haven (; Inuktitut: Uqsuqtuuq, syllabics: ᐅᖅᓱᖅᑑᖅ , meaning "lots of fat", referring to the abundance of sea mammals in the nearby waters; or �ʒɔa evən is an Inuit hamlet in Nunavut, above the Arctic Circle, located in t ...

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. 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". Today carvings and prints produced by

Inuit art Inuit art, also known as Eskimo art, refers to artwork produced by Inuit, that is, the people of the Arctic previously known as Eskimos, a term that is now often considered offensive. Historically, their preferred medium was walrus ivory, but s ...

ists may be seen with the disc number on them. The Inuk singer

Susan Aglukark Susan Aglukark, (Inuktitut syllabics: ᓲᓴᓐ ᐊᒡᓘᒃᑲᖅ ''suusan agluukkaq''), (born 27 January 1967) is a Canadian singer whose blend of Inuit folk music traditions with country and pop songwriting has made her a major recording s ...

recorded the song ''E186'' in 2000 on her album ''Unsung Heroes''.

Lucie Idlout Lucie Idlout (born Tatanniq Lucie d'Argencourt, 1972/1973) is a Canadian singer/songwriter from Iqaluit, Nunavut. She is the daughter of Leah Idlout-Paulson and granddaughter of Joseph Idlout. After the release of several EPs, Idlout's first full ...

recorded a CD called ''E5-770, My Mother's Name'' in 2005. 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 , nickname = "The Big Land" , etymology = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Canada , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 ...

which had not yet joined Canada. All Labradorian Inuit who lacked modern surnames in 1893 were given surnames from the Moravian missionaries.

Project Surname

In 1965,

Abe Okpik Abraham "Abe" Okpik, CM (12 January 1928 – 10 July 1997) was an Inuit community leader in Canada. He was instrumental in helping Inuit obtain surnames rather than disc numbers as a form of government identification. He was also the firs ...

was appointed to sit on the

5th Northwest Territories Legislative Council The 5th Northwest Territories Legislative Council was the 12th assembly of the territorial government. This council's members were elected and appointed in the 1964 general election and served until it was dissolved for the 1967 general election. ...

, its first Inuk. In 1966,

Simonie Michael Simonie Michael ( iu, ᓴᐃᒨᓂ ᒪᐃᑯᓪ; first name also spelled Simonee, alternative surnames Michel or E7-551; 1933 – November 15, 2008) was a Canadian politician from the eastern Northwest Territories (later Nunavut) who was the f ...

became the council's first elected Inuk and he declared 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 Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

( Nunavik) recording the preferences of people. He was to be later given the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the cen ...

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

External links

Here's My Canada: Sheila Watt-Cloutier’s Canada

References

Inuit culture History of the Northwest Territories History of Nunavut Inuit history Naming conventions

Disc

Project Surname

See also

External links

References