[1] Project Surname was perceived as less offensive compared to the disk number system but was also criticized as paternalistic intervention from the Canadian government.
[5] This system of identification was established because government officials found it easier to assign numbers, as they considered Inuit names to be confusing.
The ties are so strong that until puberty, kinship terms, dress, and behaviour often follow the namesake relationship, rather than biological sex or conventional gender identification.
[13] The issue of a lack of surnames and the demeaning use of disc numbers had been raised by Abe Okpik, an Inuk who was part of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories.
[16] Okpik's methods were criticized by others who alleged that he mainly spoke to men and that resulted in decisions about surnames being made without the input of absent relatives.
[2] According to scholar Valerie Alia, "Project Surname marked a turning point in the history to reidentify Inuit" and that these "effects are still felt more than thirty years later".
[17] Both the disc number system and Project Surname were criticized as violating Inuit naming customs for the convenience of people who did not understand them.
[3][4] Assigning surnames was perceived as less offensive compared to the disk number system but was also criticized as paternalistic intervention from the Canadian government.