Glen Korstrom
Northern News Services

INUVIK (Jul 10/98) - How 'bout Elder Street? Or Whaling Boulevard?

Would anyone want to live on Honeybucket Road?

Though not a burning issue, some Inuvik residents say there are street names in town that need to change.

Take Kugmallit Road for example. Both Gwich'in and Inuvialuit elders say Kugmallit are people in the Eastern Arctic and there is no need to have a Kugmallit Road here.

"I don't know where they got Bompas and Dolphin. Where did they get all those ugly names?" asked Inuvialuit elder Emma Dick.

"I like Camsell. I like Centennial but where did they get those names from?"

Loucheux Road relates to the area, Dick said, because people used to call area Gwich'in, Loucheux.

As a suggestion if she had to rename a street, Dick suggested Iqaluakpak, which means lake trout.

Gwich'in elder Catherine Mitchell said street names should be named after long-time residents and those who have made contributions to the community.

There could be a Rogers Street or a George Harry Road, she said.

"In Rae-Edzo, all the streets are named in their language and it's written in their language," said Mitchell, who recently visited the Great Slave Lake community.

Getting back to Inuvik, Mitchell nodded her approval to Navy Road because the armed forces were stationed here for many years.

"Father Adam lived up North for over 30 years. There should be a street where his mission is -- maybe Father Adam Place," she said.

"Then people will go there and ask, 'Who's Father Adam?'"

Inuvialuit elder Maureen Elias said she did not think streets should be named after people but did not know what to call a street if she could rename one.

"I don't know what to call streets. I would need to think about it," she said.