Wander around North Battleford and you see streets, avenues and drives named after numbers, railways, former Prime Ministers and prominent local people, among others.
What’s missing, according to Marilyn Richardson, are streets reflecting Cree heritage or the contributions of First Nation individuals.
Richardson was before North Battleford council Monday to make the case that now is the time to rename a number of streets in North Battleford after prominent aboriginal people.
“I believe that the names of streets and places in our city should reflect our First Nation and Métis heritage,” Richardson said in her presentation.
“It is not evident from the names of streets and places in North Battleford that there is a large First Nations and Métis population here and that they do contribute to the diversity and culture of our community.”
She pointed to several examples of streets in other Canadian communities that have Cree or First Nation-based names. Street names in Saskatoon include Meewasin Trail and Wanuskewin Road. There is Pasqua Street in Regina and Calgary includes such freeways as Scarcee Trail, Blackfoot Trail, Shaganappi Trail, Deerfoot Trail and Crowchild Trail, as examples.
Richardson singled out the various railway-themed streets for causing confusion for visitors coming into the city, and suggested replacing those streets with Cree names.
She suggested Railway Avenue be renamed Allen Sapp Road, in honor of the renowned Cree artist who recently passed away. His name graces the museum on the same street.
Richardson also suggested South Railway Avenue be renamed Chief Poundmaker Trail, and West Railway be renamed Amisk Trail, which when translated from Cree means “Beaver Trail.”
The suggestions gave councillors something to think about and they all seemed receptive to the idea. There was a consensus that consultation with the public would be needed before a street is renamed.
Councillor Ryan Bater, however, pointed out that there already was a Poundmaker Trail in North Battleford that runs down from the Highway 16 bypass past the golf course.
As well, he noted a portion of Highway 40 heading out to Poundmaker First Nation was also named Poundmaker Trail.
As for renaming a street, the process is complicated. Mayor Ian Hamilton said to reporters after the meeting. “It is not easy to change a street name,” he explained.
It means having to “change GPS, all of those things.” And that impacts public safety, in terms of sending emergency personnel out to various locations, he said.
There is also a protocol in place for street names in various parts of the city, based on certain themes. The mayor explained that in the Kildeer neighbourhood the streets were named after birds, as one example.
It was a lot easier, Hamilton said, to name a new street.
He did tell reporters the idea to recognize First Nation heritage on city streets is a good one.
“Certainly we are rich in history of Aboriginal descent, and this is great recognition of some of that,” said Hamilton.
The mayor said he looked forward to discussions and conversations about this in the future.
City Manager Jim Puffalt suggested it would be beneficial to send the idea to Planning and Development to get an idea as to what would be involved in a name change.
Puffalt also said he would ask the Parks Department if there were any parks that didn’t have a name at the moment, saying that would be another great opportunity “to be able to acknowledge and recognize peoples’ contributions to the community.”
