'Gahcho Ku or Tu?': How to pronounce the name of N.W.T.'s newest diamond mine

Gahcho Ku, the N.W.T.'s newest diamond mine, officially opened on Tuesday. There's a lingering question though: just how are you supposed to say its name?

That depends who you ask.

In English, it's most commonly pronounced GOWchoKWAY, sometimes with a nasal inflection on the last syllable.

MarleneGrooms, the host ofCBC North's Chipewyan language show,Denesulina Yatia,says the name comes fromChipewyan.That said,GahchoKu doesn't actually mean anything.

The proper name isGahchoTu, she says, with Gahchomeaning "big rabbit"and Tumeaning "lake."

Here's how Grooms says it:

Harriet Paul, host of CBC North's Tlichoshow Tide Godi,agrees that the name is Chipewyan, although she says it'spronounced differently in Tlicho.

"We were always told it was Gahcho Kue, and so we've used that for 20 years now," says De Beers spokesperson Tom Ormsby.

"It wasn't as if it was a name we developed. Rather it was describing where the work was taking place at the time. So we just attached that name to everything that went on from thereon forward."

Grooms's mother,Chipewyan-speakerSarazineBasil, likes the original name.

"In the old times when the elders used to travel on the land...there was a lot of jackrabbitsor big barrenland rabbits," she says.

"It doesn't have nothing to do with diamonds. If you're a hunter or trapping in that area, people will say, 'Where are you going?' And you'll say 'Gahcho Tu,' And they'll know where to meet you."

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