Paper short abstract:

Personal and spatial naming conventions confirm the distinctive cultural aspects of a proposed World Heritage Site. When expressing land claims, the Anishinaabemowin speakers in the region distinguish between place and space revealing a pattern of overlapping claims and complementary purposes.

Paper long abstract:

This fall the leaders of five Anishinaabeg communities in northern Canada will submit a bid to establish one of the largest and most comprehensive UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the world, a cultural landscape which incorporates their communities and over 400,000 hectares of boreal forest. This paper illustrates how personal and spatial naming conventions will be used to confirm the distinctive cultural aspects of this cultural landscape. Anishinaabemowin, the language of the Anishinaabeg, is spoken by more than 90 per cent of the people in the region, and it reflects their perceptions of the natural and dream world. The ways in which places are represented, animals and plants discussed and hunting and other practices expressed illustrates their unique cultural link with the boreal forest. When expressing the various kinds of land claims, Anishinaabemowin, speakers distinguish between place and space and a pattern of overlapping claims and complementary purposes is revealed. Personal naming conventions also reflect acute Anishinaabeg perceptions of the natural world; the woman's name, Minwewejiwang, for example, means 'a nice sounding flow of water.' The paper will explain the grammatical structure of the language emphasizing the relationship between the land and the language and will also look at naming conventions, both the conceptual systems behind the names of places and the way that references to the landscape are incorporated in the names of individuals. We will draw from myths and historical stories to illustrate how the Anishinaabeg language is used today to express profound and unique connections with the Pimachiowin Aki region.