UPDATE, NOV. 10: Campbell River City Council has now officially sent a letter of support for the Liǧʷiłdaxʷ First Nations' effort to rename the local features after receiving strong feedback. See story on www.campbellrivermirror.com. The letter dated Nov. 7, addressed to Trent Thomas, with the BC Geographical Names Society, says the city "values the significance" of the Nations' request. It also says it acknowledges the importance of preserving and respecting the heritage and culture of the Liǧʷiłdaxʷ̌ people. This column was written before that change of position became public. Also readers of the Nov. 13 print edition of the Campbell River Mirror should note that that paper went to press last week before the city's change of position was known.
Once again Campbell River's city council has managed to embarrass our community in front of the whole province.
When asked to support what amounts to a relatively simple act of reconciliation, city councillors squirmed in their seats and feared some sort of backlash from "public opinion" worrying, as well, about the pace of reconciliation. The pace of reconciliation? Yes, there is a problem with the pace of reconciliation, it's not happening fast enough and Campbell River city council has shown it's not willing to do anything about speeding it up.
It didn't look that way in the early days of this regime when the city invited local First Nations to be part of the swearing-in ceremony of the new city council. A nice gesture but that's apparently all it was. Was it a meaningful act of reconciliation or a simple token?
What city council was asked to do was support a request to have the BC Geographical Names Office rename local geographic features with First Nations names. The features being looked at are currently known by the non-Indigenous community as Discovery Passage, Quinsam River and Tyee Spit. The Liǧʷiłdaxʷ First Nations, We Wai Kai, Wei Wai Kum and Kwiakah, requested Discovery Passage be restored to its Indigenous name, Liǧʷiłdaxʷ Passage (pronounced Lee-gwilth-daxw); the Quinsam River be renamed Kʷənsəm (pronounced Quinsam) River; and the Tyee Spit be renamed ʔuxstalis (pronounced Oox-sta-lease).
This is part of a trend to replace names imposed by settlers with their original Indigenous names. I spent five formative years of my youth living on what was known by the non-Indigenous community as the Queen Charlotte Islands off the northwest coast of B.C. Now, of course, the area is known as Haida Gwaii. Recently, the village of Queen Charlotte has been renamed Daajing Giids. So, the Haida Nation has been at the forefront of this renaming trend.
Now, local First Nations are looking to restore some of their Indigenous names and have proposed the aforementioned three. There's probably more to come. And I like it.
A letter by Campbell River mayor Kermit Dahl dated Oct. 11, which is addressed to the BC Geographical Names Office, states the city values these changes and "recognizes the importance of preserving and respecting the heritage and culture of the Ligwitdaxw people." The mayor also wanted to make sure that there was open and public discussion, probably hoping to generate wider opposition.
In a discussion at a recent city council meeting more reflective of councillors' feelings, city councillors reflected positions that are undoubtedly prevalent in the community. People are uncomfortable not just with the act of changing the European names (or mispronunciations) that have been given by settlers but are also uncomfortable with the pronunciations of the Indigenous words. The alphabet is different and many non-Indigenous people are not willing to accommodate things that are different. City council is reflecting a resistance to changing the status quo. Not surprisingly, because the mainstream culture benefits from the way things are.
But the reality is that with a little bit of effort to understand the Indigenous language and alphabet, people might find that the words aren't that hard to pronounce (especially with phonetic assistance). And besides, learning a new language is good for you.
What's more important, though, is the gesture of reconciliation, making the effort to be inclusive to be unified and understanding of the experience our Indigenous neighbours have gone through. Reconciliation is a force that has to be accommodated. It is not going away and we will all be better off for making the effort.
Wei Wai Kum First Nation Chief Chris Roberts told council that their reaction to the proposal was "disappointing." But city councillor Ben Lanyon said the request was possibly out of step with current public opinion. So? I think you might find that there is plenty of support for making what is really an easy act of reconciliation. But sometimes you have to do something because it's the right thing to do, not because its popular.
Who cares if Discovery Passage is renamed? Do you know what it's named for? I bet many don't. It's an instrument of the force that was responsible – from the First Nations point of view – in the near-destruction of cultures and languages. What a legacy. Why not rename it for the people who have lived in this region since time immemorial and are the current Indigenous rights holders of the land? Who cares about HMS Discovery? It's like a Haida elder said some years ago, "Who is Queen Charlotte anyway?"
Our landscape overwhelmingly reflects the colonial and settler cultures. We have many Spanish names on local geographic features, how many people speak Spanish around here? There's plenty of room to accommodate Indigenous cultures in the placenames of the region. There's argument for all placenames being Indigenous but even sharing a small portion of the places with Indigenous people seems to be a step too far for some.
Alistair Taylor has been a writer and editor with Black Press since 1989, most of those years spent as editor of the Campbell River Mirror.
