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Jasper National Park Centennial Community Toponym Project

As part of Jasper National Park's 100th anniversary celebrations, a community toponym project is being undertaken. Toponymy is the study 'place names' or the names given to geological features, both natural and manmade (i.e.: Mount Athabasca, Maligne Lake and the Icefields Parkway).

Toponyms remind us of the people, the history and the culture of the area in which we work, live and play. As citizens of Canada and users of the Park, it is up to us to nominate these place names. This project is an opportunity to put on record the history of Jasper National Park as we knew it.

Applying a new name to a mountain, peak or creek is a challenging endeavor with many rules and regulations set forth by federal and provincial authorities (links to guidelines below). Yet all of these authorities hold, as their "first priority" in approving a name "those of long standing use." Names which over time have been applied to the landscape that surround us and we have become familiar with. The longer and more common the use, the more credit given to the nomination.

With the blessing of the Jasper Yellowhead Historical Society (JYHS) and the Centennial Coordinator for Jasper National Park, Brian Catto has agreed to undertake this project (JNPCCTP) on a volunteer basis. His aim is to simply collect and sort nominations in an unbiased fashion and where possible add documentation from the archives at JYHS. It is not the intention of the this project to remove or rename any previously named features. Once collected and sorted all documentation will be submitted to the proper authorities for assessment.

All nominations should include as much of the following as possible:

• location by latitude and longitude, specifying map consulted
• identification on a map indicating precise extent of the feature
• photographs or sketches
• reason for proposal, ?ie: long standing use (the proposal of a new name needs "lots" of supporting documentation)
• origin and meaning of the nameyour name, postal and email addresses and telephone numbers for verification. (The authorities do follow up so proposals without this will be discarded)

Contact Brian Catto with your nominations at:

PO Box 195
Jasper, AB T0E 1E0
(780)852-3076