Library and Archives Canada is expanding a project that's helped to identify thousands of photos of unknown Inuit people, places and activities. The third phase of Project Naming has been launched with the goal of identifying the subjects in at least 12,000 more images.

Project Naming was initiated in 2002, as a collaboration between the LAC, the Nunavut government and the Nunavut Sivuniksavut Training Program for Inuit youth.

The first phase of the project involved digitizing a collection of approximately 500 photos taken by photographer Richard Harrington.

Harrington's photos, taken between the late 1940s and early 1950s, depicted people from communities in the Canadian Arctic, including Igloolik (Iglulik), Kugluktuk (formerly known as Coppermine), Taloyoak (formerly Spence Bay), and Padlei.

Generic captions and titles were used for most of the photos, meaning very few of the people and places in Harrington's photos were actually identified.

The images were transferred to CDs so program participants could take them to Nunavut, where they could ask their elders and other community members for help identifying the photo subjects.

As a result, more than 75 per cent of the people and places in the photos were identified. In some cases elders spotted themselves or their friends and family members in Harrington's photos.

Paalak plays a string game with her daughter Kinaalik, near Padlei, Nunavut, 1949-50. (Richard Harrington / Library and Archives Canada)

Constructing a roof in Resolute Bay, Nunavut, September 1959. (Photo courtesy Library and Archives Canada)

Donald Sr. Uluadluak, late Meg Kuksuk and the late Quqayuq (younger sister of Aivaat and mother of the late Leonard Kuksuk) appear in this Library and Archives Canada image. 

Group of Inuit children sailing toy sail boats at water's edge. (Photo courtesy Library and Archives Canada)

Deborah Webster, an Inuit woman from Baker Lake in Nunavut, participated in the first phase of Project Naming. During the program, she discovered images of some of her relatives.

Helping to identify the images felt like an amazing accomplishment, she said.

"I felt a sense of satisfaction in identifying unnamed individuals in photographs and providing names to replace captions provided by the photographer," she said in a statement.

“Often photo captions were simply described with 'Group of Eskimos' or 'Native woman.' In a sense, when we help identify the pictures we are reclaiming our heritage."

Since the initial launch, the project was expanded to include more than 8,000 photos, and more regions of Nunavut. The majority of these photos are from the federal government's collections, and include images from the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs, the National Film Board of Canada, and the Department of National Health and Welfare.

Close to 2,000 images have been identified through Project Naming, and the photos have been made publicly available online.

LAC project manager Beth Greenhorn said the naming and identifying project has been a deeply satisfying process that helps to maintain Canada's historical record, as well as forge new relationships with northern communities.

And Greenhorn said she feels personally attached to one photo in particular.

In 2007, Greenhorn created a poster to promote Project Naming. She decided to use a photo of two women that had not yet been identified.

Bella Lyall-Wilcox and Betty Brewster appear in this image taken in 1949 from Library and Archives Canada.

She sent the poster to all of her contacts in the North, asking them to post the poster all over their communities. Within 24 hours of her sending the poster out, she received a message from a woman named Betty Brewster, who said it was her and her older sister in the black and white image.

Greenhorn said by identifying the women in the photo, LAC was able to accurately date the image as having been taken in 1949.

Yet, beyond identification, the project also helps to spark dialogue. She said she continues to speak with Brewster, and the two have become close.

"Following that (initial message), ensued a fairly lively conversation between Betty and myself, and she's sent pictures of her grandson, who looks exactly like her," she said.

"Over the years, I've had continuing conversations with Betty because this picture of her and her sister keeps re-appearing, sparking new conversations."

Third phase

The third phase of Project Naming has been expanded to include Inuit communities in the Northwest Territories, northern Quebec and Labrador, as well as First Nations and Metis.

Members of the public are invited to browse the collection of photos and submit information regarding any particular image through an online form.