Detail of Tête Jaune Cache area, John Arrowsmith map,1859
Colonial Dispatches, Uvic

“Orignal” is Canadian French for “moose,” derived from Basque oreina “deer” via orignac, the form that the Basque word took on in the Basque-Mi’kmaq pidgin used by the Mi’kmaq and visiting Basque fishermen and whalers.

On Arrowsmith’s 1859 map, Moose Lake appears as “Lac L’Original [sic],” and the two sections of Yellowhead Lake are called Moose Lake and Cow dung Lake.