What's in a Name?

What does the word "Canada" mean? Its actual derivation is uncertain, but many explanations exist. These stories about the very word "Canada" are indications of the diverse cultural background of the country. Some say that it comes from the Spanish for "nothing here", which might well have been the comments of the Spanish explorers who, looking for a passage to Asia, encountered this large, wild, forested, apparently unpopulated islands off the west coast of the country. (In fact, it was explorers who mistook Canada for India that began calling Aboriginal peoples "Indians").

Totem Poles of the First Nations People

Others suggest the name of Canada comes from one or more of the languages spoken by the First Nations (a term now use to describe original Canadians). In Cree, it means "clean land"; in Mohawk, "castle"; to the Iroquois, ka-na-ta meant "village".

Place names can tell us a lot about the history of Canada. We find English rulers and nobles celebrated as in the provincial capitals of Halifax and Victoria. There are also, of course, French names, especially in Quebec (Montreal is the translation of "Mount Royal"). Other names are vivid reflections of the adventures of early explorers—you can wonder about how Medicine Hat and Moosejaw, both cities in Alberta, got their names. At Sioux (pronounced "sue") Lookout in Ontario, you can imagine early settlers keeping watch for native Indians. Others, like Great Bear Lake and Buffalo Narrows, suggest the dangerous forms of wildlife that still roam Canada.

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