Canada's Name

While a variety of theories have been postulated for the name of Canada, its origin is now accepted as coming from the St. Lawrence Iroquoian word , meaning 'village' or 'settlement'. In 1535, indigenous inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct French explorer Jacques Cartier to the village of Stadacona. Cartier later used the word ''Canada'' to refer not only to that particular village but to the entire area subject to Donnacona (the chief at Stadacona); by 1545, European books and maps had begun referring to this small region along the Saint Lawrence River as ''Canada''.

From the 16th to the early 18th century, ''Canada'' referred to the part of New France that lay along the Saint Lawrence River. In 1791, the area became two British colonies called Upper Canada and Lower Canada. These two colonies were collectively named the Canadas until their union as the British Province of Canada in 1841.

Upon Confederation in 1867, ''Canada'' was adopted as the legal name for the new country at the London Conference, and the word ''Dominion'' was conferred as the country's ''title''. By the 1950s, the term Dominion of Canada was no longer used by the United Kingdom, which considered Canada a "Realm of the Commonwealth". The government of Louis St. Laurent ended the practice of using ''Dominion'' in the statutes of Canada in 1951.

The ''Canada Act 1982'', which brought the constitution of Canada fully under Canadian control, referred only to ''Canada''. Later that year, the name of the national holiday was changed from Dominion Day to Canada Day. The term ''Dominion'' was used to distinguish the federal government from the provinces, though after the Second World War the term ''federal'' had replaced ''dominion''.

Etymology

The name ''Canada'' is now generally accepted as originating from the St. Lawrence Iroquoian word (), meaning 'village' or 'settlement'. Related translations include 'land' or 'town', with subsequent terminologies meaning 'cluster of dwellings' or 'collection of huts'. This explanation is historically documented in Jacques Cartier's ''Bref récit et succincte narration de la navigation faite en MDXXXV et MDXXXVI''.

Although the Laurentian language, which was spoken by the inhabitants of St. Lawrence Valley settlements such as Stadacona (modern-day Quebec City) and Hochelaga (modern-day Montreal) in the 16th century, is now extinct, it was closely related to other dialects of the Iroquoian languages, such as the Oneida and Mohawk languages. Related cognates meaning 'town' include , , and in the Mohawk, Onondaga, and Seneca languages respectively. Prior to archaeological confirmation that the St. Lawrence Iroquois were a separate people from the Mohawk, most sources specifically linked the name's origin to the Mohawk word instead of the Laurentian one.

A widespread perception in Canadian folklore is that Cartier misunderstood the term "Canada" as the existing proper name of the Iroquois people's entire territory rather than the generic class noun for a town or village. For instance, the Historica Canada's ''Heritage Minute'' episode devoted to Cartier's landing at Hochelaga is scripted as having Cartier believe that "Kanata" or "Canada" was the established name of the entire country. This is not supported by Cartier's own writings, however—in ''Bref récit'', Cartier fully understands the actual meaning of the word ("They call a town Canada").

While the Saint-Lawrence Iroquoian origin for the name ''Canada'' is now widely accepted, other theories have been put forth in the past.

Iberian origin theory

The most common alternative theory suggested that the name originated when Portuguese or Spanish explorers, having explored the northern part of the continent and unable to find gold and silver, wrote ('nothing here' in Portuguese), or ('Cape Nothing' in Spanish) on that part of their maps. An alternative explanation favoured by philologist Marshall Elliott linked the name to the Spanish word ''cañada'', meaning 'glen' or 'valley'.

The earliest iterations of the Spanish "nothing here" theory stated that the explorers made the declaration upon visiting the Bay of Chaleur, while later versions left out any identifying geographic detail.

The known Portuguese presence in modern Canadian territory, meanwhile, was in Newfoundland and Labrador. Neither region is located anywhere near Iroquoian territory, and the name ''Canada'' does not appear on any Spanish or Portuguese maps of the North American coast that predate Cartier's visit. No name for the Bay of Chaleur is attested at all in Spanish sources from that period, while the only name for Newfoundland attested in Portuguese sources is , after the region's plentiful cod.

In most versions of the Iberian origin theory, the Spanish or Portuguese passed their name on to the Iroquois, who rapidly adopted it in place of their own prior word for a village; however, no historical evidence for any such Iberian-Iroquoian interaction has ever actually been found. Elliott's "valley" theory, conversely, was that the Spanish gave their name for the area directly to Jacques Cartier, who then entirely ignored or passed over the virtually identical Iroquoian word. According to Elliott, Cartier never explicitly stated that there was a direct connection between or as the Iroquoian word for 'village' and ''Canada'' as the new name of the entire territory, and never accounted for the spelling difference between and ''Canada''—and thus the Spanish etymology had to be favoured because the spellings matched. Notably, Cartier never wrote of having any awareness of any preexisting Spanish or Portuguese name for the region either, meaning that Elliott's allegation that the derivation was not adequately supported by Cartier's own writing on the matter was also true of his own preferred theory.

Franciscan priest André Thevet claimed that the word derived from , an answer reportedly given by Spaniards in the St. Lawrence Valley area when asked what their purpose was; according to Thevet, the phrase meant that they were seeking landGervais Carpin, ''Histoire d'un mot: l'ethnonyme "canadien" de 1535-1691''. Les Éditions de Septentrion, 1995. . p. 50. or that they were hunting. Olive Dickason, ''Le mythe du sauvage''. Les Éditions de Septentrion, 1993. . p. 298. These words do not actually exist in Spanish, however.

Minor or humorous theories

British philologist B. Davies surmised that by the same process which initially saw the First Nations mislabelled as Indians, the country came to be named for the Carnata region of India or that region's Kannada ethnic group; however, this theory has attracted no significant support from other academics.

Additional theories have attributed the name "Canada" to: a word in an unspecified indigenous language for 'mouth of the country' in reference to the Gulf of St. Lawrence; a Cree word for 'neat or clean'; a claimed Innu war cry of "''kan-na-dun, Kunatun''"; a shared Cree and Innu word, ''p'konata'', which purportedly meant 'without a plan' or 'I don't know'; a short-lived French colony purportedly established by a settler whose surname was Cane; Jacques Cartier's description elsewhere in his writings of Labrador as "the land God gave to Cain;" or, to a claim that the early French ''habitants'' demanded a "can a day" of spruce beer from the local intendant (a claim easily debunked by the fact that the ''habitants'' would have been speaking French, not English).

In their 1983 book ''The Anglo Guide to Survival in Québec'', humourists Josh Freed and Jon Kalina tied the Iberian origin theory to the phrase ''nada mas caca'' ('nothing but shit'). No historian or linguist has ever analyzed this explanation as anything more than an obvious joke.

Canadian

The demonym "Canadien" or "Canadian" once referred exclusively to the indigenous groups who were native to the territory, traced back to 1664. Its use was extended over time to the French settlers of New France by 1746, and later the English settlers of Upper Canada by 1792.

Colonial usage

New France

European explorer Jacques Cartier transcribed the Saint-Lawrence Iroquoian word (pronounced ) as "Canada" and was the first European to use the word to refer not only to the village of Stadacona but also to the neighbouring region and to the Saint Lawrence River, which he called ''rivière de Canada'' during his second voyage in 1535. By the mid-1500s, European books and maps began referring to this region as Canada.

''Canada'' soon after became the name of a colony in New France that stretched along the St. Lawrence River.MCC.
Le territoire
", in ''La Nouvelle-France. Ressources françaises'', Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (France), 1998, retrieved August 2, 2008 The terms "Canada" and "New France" were often used interchangeably during the colonial period.

British North America

After the British conquest of New France (including ceding of the French colony, Canada) in 1763, the colony was renamed the Province of Quebec. Following the American Revolution and the influx of United Empire Loyalists into Quebec, the colony was split on December 26, 1791, into Upper and Lower Canada, sometime being collectively known as "The Canadas", the first time that the name "Canada" was used officially in the British regime.

Some reports from the 1840s suggest that in that era, the word "Canada" was commonly pronounced "Kaugh-na-daugh" rather than its more contemporary pronunciation.

Upper and Lower Canada were merged into one colony, the Province of Canada, in 1841, based on the recommendations of the Durham Report. The former colonies were then known as Canada East and Canada West, and a single legislature was established with equal representation from each. Underpopulated Canada West opposed demands by Canada East for representation by population, but the roles reversed as Canada West's population surpassed the east's. The single colony remained governed in this way until July 1, 1867, often with coalition governments. A new capital city was being built at Ottawa, chosen in 1857 by Queen Victoria, and became a national capital.

Selection of the name ''Canada''

At the conferences held in London to determine the form of confederation that would unite the Province of Canada (now Ontario and Quebec), the province of New Brunswick, and the province of Nova Scotia, a delegate from either Nova Scotia or New Brunswick proposed the name ''Canada'' in February 1867, and it was unanimously accepted by the other delegates. There appears to have been little discussion,Creighton, Donald. 1956. ''The Road to Confederation.'' Houghton Mifflin: Boston; p. 421. though other names were suggested.

Other proposed names

While the provinces' delegates spent little time, if any, in settling on ''Canada'' as the name for the new country, others proposed a variety of other names:

* Anglia – the medieval Latin name for England
* Albionoria – 'Albion of the north'
* Borealia – from ''borealis'', the Latin word for 'northern'; compare with Australia
* Cabotia – in honour of Italian explorer John Cabot, who explored the eastern coast of Canada for England
* Colonia
* Efisga – an acronym of ''English, French, Irish, Scottish, German, American.'' (Some accounts state that the ''a'' stood for ''Aboriginal'', but there was little or no use of that term to describe Indigenous peoples in Canada at the time.)
* Hochelaga – an old name for Montreal
* Laurentia
* Mesopelagia – 'land between the seas'
* New Albion
* Norland
* Superior
* Tupona – acronym for ''The United Provinces of North America''
* Transatlantica
* Ursalia – 'place of bears'
* Vesperia – 'land of the evening star'
* Victorialand – in honour of Queen Victoria

Walter Bagehot of ''The Economist'' newspaper in London argued that the new nation should be called ''Northland'' or ''Anglia'' instead of Canada.Moore, Christopher. 1997. ''1867: How the Fathers Made a Deal.'' McClelland and Stewart: Toronto; p. 214. On these names, the statesman Thomas D'Arcy McGee commented, "Now I would ask any honourable member of the House how he would feel if he woke up some fine morning and found himself, instead of a Canadian, a Tuponian or a Hochelegander?".

''Kingdom'' and ''Dominion''

Working towards the Confederation of Canada, Canada's founders deliberated on the official title for their new country, primarily between the "Kingdom of Canada" or the "Dominion of Canada".

In J. S. Ewart's two volume work, ''The Kingdom Papers'', it is noted that the following names were considered for the union of British North America: "The United Colony of Canada", "the United Provinces of Canada", and "the Federated Provinces of Canada".; as per "Rank and Name", pp. 374–381. Ewart was also an ardent advocate for the formation of "the Republic of Canada", a position which was rarely expressed in those times..

''Kingdom of Canada''

During the Charlottetown Conference of 1864, John A. Macdonald, who later became the first Prime Minister of Canada, talked of "founding a great British monarchy," in connection with the British Empire. He advocated, in the fourth Canadian draft of the ''British North America Act'' (BNA Act), the name "Kingdom of Canada",Farthing, John; ''Freedom Wears a Crown''; Toronto, 1957 in the text is said:

Canada's founders, led by Macdonald, wished their new nation to be called the ''Kingdom of Canada'' in order to "fix the monarchical basis of the constitution". The governor general at the time, The 4th Viscount Monck, supported the move to designate Canada a kingdom; however, officials at the Colonial Office in London opposed this potentially "premature" and "pretentious" reference for a new country. They were also wary of antagonizing the United States, which had emerged from its Civil War as a formidable military power with unsettled grievances because British interests had sold ships to the Confederacy despite a blockade, and thus opposed the use of terms such as ''kingdom'' or ''empire'' to describe the new country.

Adoption of ''Dominion''

Sir Samuel Leonard Tilley, Premier of New Brunswick, suggested the term ''Dominion'',"Dominion (noun)." ''Merriam-Webster Dictionary'': "a self-governing nation of the Commonwealth of Nations other than the United Kingdom that acknowledges the British monarch as chief of state" inspired by Psalm 72:8 (from the King James Bible): "He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.""Sir Samuel Leonard Tilley"
Library and Archives Canada. This is also echoed in Canada's motto: ''A Mari Usque Ad Mare'' (Latin for 'from sea to sea').

The term ''Dominion'' had been used for centuries to refer to the lands held by a monarch, and had previously been adopted as titles for the Dominion of New England and the Dominion and Colony of Virginia. It continued to apply as a generic term for the major colonial possessions of the British Empire until well into the 20th century; although Tilley and the other Fathers of Confederation broadened the meaning of the word ''dominion'' to a "virtual synonym for sovereign state". Its adoption as a title for Canada in 1867 served the purpose of upholding the monarchist principle in Canada; in a letter to Queen Victoria, Lord Carnarvon stated:

The North American delegates are anxious that the United Provinces should be designated as the 'Dominion of Canada.' It is a new title, but intended on their part as a tribute to the Monarchical principle which they earnestly desire to uphold.

Macdonald, however, bemoaned its adoption. In a letter to Lord Knutsford on the topic of the loss of the use of the word kingdom, Macdonald said:

He added as a postscript that it was adopted on the suggestion of British colonial ministers to avoid offending republican sensibilities in the United States:

Use of the term ''dominion'' was formalized in 1867 through Canadian Confederation. In the Constitution of Canada, namely the ''Constitution Act, 1867'' (British North America Acts), the preamble of the act indicates:

Moreover, section 2 indicates that the provinces:

French terms

The French translation of the 1867 ''British North America Act'') translated "One Dominion under the Name of Canada" as "" using ''Puissance'' ('power') as a translation for ''dominion''. Later, the English loanword ''dominion'' was also used in French.

The Fathers of Confederation met at the Quebec Conference of 1864 to discuss the terms of this new union. One issue on the agenda was to determine the Union's " feudal rank" (see ''Resolution 71'' of the Quebec Conference, 1864). The candidates for the classification of this new union were: ('the Kingdom or Realm of Canada'), ('the Union of Canada'), and ('the Dominion of Canada').

Use of ''Dominion''

There are numerous references in United Kingdom Acts of Parliament to "the Dominion of Canada;" and the ''British North America Act, 1867'' referred to the formation of "one Dominion under the name of Canada". Section 4 of the BNA Act also declares that: "Unless it is otherwise expressed or implied, the Name Canada shall be taken to mean Canada as constituted under this Act;" this has been interpreted to mean that the title of the country is simply ''Canada''. The term "Dominion of Canada" appears in the ''Constitution Act, 1871''—the usage of which was "sanctioned"Martin, Robert. 1993
Eugene Forsey Memorial Lecture: A Lament for British North America.
''The Machray Review.'' Prayer Book Society of Canada.—''A summative piece about nomenclature and pertinent history with abundant references.''—and both "Canada" and "Dominion of Canada" appear in other texts of the period, as well as on numerous Canadian banknotes before 1935.

Until the 1950s, the term ''Dominion of Canada'' was commonly used to identify the country. As the country acquired political authority and autonomy from the United Kingdom, the federal government began using simply ''Canada'' on state documents. Quebec nationalist leaders also objected to ''dominion'', arguing that it suggested Ottawa would have control over Quebec.

Under Prime Minister Louis St-Laurent, compromises were reached that quietly, and without legislation, "Dominion" would be retired in official names and statements, usually replaced by "federal". The St. Laurent government thereby ended the practice of using "Dominion" in the Statutes of Canada in 1951.

The independence of the separate Commonwealth realms was emphasised after the accession of Queen Elizabeth II in 1952, when she was proclaimed not just as Queen of the United Kingdom, but also Queen of Canada, Queen of Australia, Queen of New Zealand, Queen of South Africa, and of all her other " realms and territories". This also reflected the change from ''dominion'' to ''realm''; in the proclamation of Queen Elizabeth II's new titles in 1953, the phrase "of her other Realms and Territories" replaced "dominion" with another mediaeval French word with the same connotation, "realm" (from ''royaume'').

With that said, the national holiday of "Dominion Day" kept that name until 1982, when a private member's bill to replace the name with Canada Day that had received first reading in May 1980 was unexpectedly passed in the House. In the Senate, Eugene Forsey and the Monarchist League of Canada strongly defended the traditional usage. When a Gallup poll showed 70% of all Canadians favoured the change, the Senate approved the bill without a recorded vote.

The ''Canada Act 1982'' refers only to ''Canada'' and does not use the term ''dominion''. No constitutional statute amends this name, nor does any Canadian legal document state that the name of the country is anything other than ''Canada''. Moreover, official sources of the United Nations system,
international organizations (such as the Organization of American States), the European Union,
the United States, and other polities with which Canada has official relations as a state either consistently use ''Canada'' as the only official name, affirm that Canada has no long-form name, or affirm that the formal name is simply ''Canada''. ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' states that ''Dominion of Canada'' is the formal name of the country, albeit rarely used now.

The terms ''Dominion'' and ''Dominion of Canada'' are still considered to be appropriate, although arcane, titles for the country.Forsey, Eugene A., in Marsh, James H., ed. 1988.
''Dominion''
''The Canadian Encyclopedia''. Hurtig Publishers: Toronto.Canadian Heritage: National Flag of Canada Day - How Did You Do?


The federal government continues to produce publications and educational materials that specify the currency of these titles, although these publications are not themselves legal or official documents.
Forsey, Eugene A. 2005.
''How Canadians Govern Themselves''
(PDF), 6th ed. Canada: Ottawa; pp. 8-9. The preface to the publication specifies that the opinions reflected are those of the author, and "do not necessarily reflect those of parliament."

For instance, in 2008 the Canadian government registered the Maple Leaf Tartan, designed in 1964, with the Scottish Tartans Authority. The tartan's alternate name is "Dominion of Canada".

These terms are also used in a colonial historical sense, having been used to distinguish contemporary (post-1867) Canada from either the earlier Province of Canada or from the even earlier The Canadas and modern history of the current realms. The terms have also been used to distinguish the federal government from the provinces, though in this usage, "federal" has replaced "dominion". For example, ''The Canadian Almanac'' stopped using Dominion of Canada in 1964.

See also

*Royal eponyms in Canada">List of Canadian place names of royal heritage
*Canadian provincial and territorial name etymologies
*Origins of names of cities in Canada
*List of Canadian place names of Ukrainian origin
* List of Canadian place names of Indigenous origin
* List of Canadian place names of English origin
* List of Canadian place names of Scottish origin
* List of Canadian place names of Spanish origin

Notes

References

Bibliography

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Further reading

* Choudry, Sujit. 2001(?)
"Constitution Acts"
(based on looseleaf by Hogg, Peter W.).
Constitutional Keywords
'. University of Alberta, Centre for Constitutional Studies: Edmonton.
*

External links

Origin of the Name - Canada
- Canadian Heritage

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Legal history of Canada
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