Qanuqtuurniq. I came across that word, by chance, a few months ago. I was told it’s from Inuktitut and it means being resourceful and innovative. It struck me as an appropriate name for Memorial University’s soon-to-be completed core science building.
Aside from the obvious link to the activities that will happen onsite, it mates perfectly with the iceberg-influenced architecture. More importantly, the name would be in keeping with MUN’s ongoing efforts to better honour our Indigenous heritage.
The petition currently circulating online, gathering support for naming that building after our current chief medical officer of health, is laudable. Yet, while Dr. Janice Fitzgerald has discharged her duties with grace and kindness, being for all of us here in Newfoundland and Labrador the face of strength and hope through what can arguably be termed the most difficult period in the province’s recent history, she has also been among the first to acknowledge she is but one of many; a member — albeit a prominent one — of a much larger team. To bestow sole credit to her would be to dishonour the service of the many, many others who have toiled alongside her throughout this difficult time.
To name the building after an individual would be to, once again, forget the contributions of the many.
Forgotten, in a manner somewhat like the legions of souls who enabled the flourishing so unevenly enjoyed in this province. Those who said to the newcomers, whenever asked, that the land was to be shared, only to have it taken away, themselves banished to the leavings. Those who freely gave of their food, shelter and their expertise so that the newcomers could survive, only to receive a guilt-laden pittance when hardship visited them. Those who saw the newcomers grow richer and more powerful while they were edged further and further into squalor and disgrace.
A growing debt, unacknowledged; forgotten.
Later this year, that impressive white edifice will open its doors to scholars of many disciplines and, in the decades to come, will most certainly be a hub of innovation and resourcefulness. New ideas will be honed — yielding, we hope, even greater human flourishing in this place, long after this cursed pandemic is behind us, and long after the contributions, this past year, of any individual, will have lost their meaning and relevance.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if, instead, campus newcomers and visitors could visit Qanuqtuurniq, more aware of how our Indigenous identity is such a vital part of our past, present, and future?
And in this case, make no mistake, it won’t be an honour to an individual who played their part, however admirably. No, this will not be an honour, but at least a partial repayment to a great debt that is owed to a vital part of our own culture.
Maurice Barry
Mount Pearl
