[lg policy] Barrow Alaska voters support name change to 'Utqiagvik'

[Harold Schiffman]

 Barrow voters support name change to 'Utqiagvik'

    Author: Shady Grove Oliver, The Arctic Sounder Updated: October 13
Published October 13

Barrow, the largest town on Alaska’s North Slope, has a population of about
4,300. (Marc Lester / ADN archive 2013)

Voters have set in motion the process of changing the name of the
northernmost community in Alaska from the English "Barrow" back to the
Inupiaq "Utqiagvik."

The canvass committee certified the results of the city's primary election
showing voters approving the name-change ordinance. The action came on
Monday, which was Indigenous People's Day.

"It reclaims our beautiful Inupiaq language," said Mayor Bob Harcharek.

In late August, city council member Qaiyaan Harcharek introduced the
ordinance. As the Sounder reported following that meeting, the ordinance's
authors wrote:

"To do so would acknowledge, honor and be a reclamation of our beautiful
language which is moribund."

The authors also acknowledged that Inupiaq is the "original, ancestral
language of this area and our people" and that returning to Utqiagvik would
"promote pride in identity" and would "perpetuate healing and growth from
the assimilation and oppression from the colonists."
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[Barrow council weighs changing city name, signage from English to Inupiaq]

Some opponents of the measure were concerned the name change would cost the
city money, both in terms of changing all official references to the name
on things like stationery and signage, and the loss of emotional capital or
recognition that come along with the name Barrow for tourism and business.

In the unofficial results, the votes were tied, but after all of the
absentee and questioned ballots were reviewed, the yes votes took a narrow
lead.

The ordinance ultimately passed with 381 votes in favor to 375 votes
opposed.

There are still several steps that must be taken, including the city
communicating with state officials, before the name change will come to
fruition.

https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/rural-alaska/2016/10/13/barrow-voters-support-name-change-to-utqiagvik/

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 Harold F. Schiffman

Professor Emeritus of
 Dravidian Linguistics and Culture
Dept. of South Asia Studies
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305

Phone:  (215) 898-7475
Fax:  (215) 573-2138

Email:  haroldfs at gmail.com
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/

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