DCHP-2

Qalunaat qallunaaq, qallunaat, < Inuktitut DCHP-2 (October 2016)

• n. — Territories, Aboriginal (Inuit)

  a white person; a southern Canadian.

  Type: 1. Origin — Qalunaat is the more prevalent form today (see Charts 1 and 2, which have different multipliers); qallunaaq is the older form (see quotations). The term is a borrowing from Inuktitut, the language of the Inuit peoples in Canada. The most likely meaning is 'those who care for material things' (see fist note below with quote from Freeman's memoir.) The term is used in English speech in the Territories, although it has little currency in southern Canada. Qalunaat is most prevalent in Canada (see Chart 1).
  See also COD-2, s.v. "Qalunaaq", which is marked "Cdn (North)".

  See also: igloo (meaning 1a)  

  • Mini Aodla Freeman offers interesting insights into the origin of the term:
    “No wonder Inuit call them qallunaat. I said at the beginning that qallunaat means “people who pamper their eyebrows.” But I am not sure anymore if that’s what it means. It was never explained to me by any of my ancestors why the qallunaat were named that. [...] To come back to the word qallunaat: I have turned the word inside out to try and find the meaning. First of all, the word qallu can mean eyebrow; by adding an ending one has qallu-naaq, meaning one qallunaaq; qallu-naak — two qallunaaq; qallu-naat — many qallunaaq. The word implies humans who pamper or fuss with nature, of materialistic habit. Avaricious people. Qallu is also the beginning of the word qallunartak, material or fabric or anything that is manufactured or store-bought. It can also mean a rag made of material or fabric, or any material other than a material from nature. Somehow, I cannot see how the Inuit would have been impressed if the qallunaat pampered their eyebrows. I cannot imagine the qallunaat pampering their eyebrows when they did not care how they looked in the middle of the Arctic; even today, they do not seem to care how they look.” (Freeman 2015: 86)