The Stoney Nakoda First Nations have applied to have a long list of well-known places across southern Alberta � including Calgary, Canmore and the Bow River � changed to reflect traditional names given by their people.
Oh believe me, I am well aware of the stupidity of all levels our governments can reach. We are all too frequently reminded of this.
But to agree to change the names of so many communities, and especially a city as big as Calgary, is an enormous undertaking. People will absolutely freak out.
This is Calgary though, where the dominant trend on city council has been drifting towards the stupid-left for a couple of decades now. They won't do an official name change unless the province leads the charge but they'll probably still spend about $20 million changing all the city letterhead to include the Native name and change all the welcome signs on the outskirts of town "just to be nice". I can think of maybe two councilors that will make a stink over this silly idea but every other one of them will either happily or barely-grudgingly go along with it. And they've all been recently re-elected too, so to them that means they have the stamp of approval to push ahead with whatever nonsense they want for the next four years.
Calgary - for normal folks it's now a great place to see receding behind you in your rear-view mirror. This place is genuinely fucked.
"BartSimpson" said I personally miss the Queen Charlotte Islands.
So do I, but I don't live there. The resident's don't seem to be complaining and the cities have the same names. But having lived in many places I'm a little annoyed at "Salish Sea", "Great Bear Rain Forest" and "Metrotown" cuz I never, ever heard anyone call them that. Only big enough to be a sea if you're stupid enough to be out there in a canoe or kayak in a gale warning. And all the neighbours called them the Central Coast or Old Orchard...
And Mayor McNice is caving in already because, y'know, ya gotta be nice all the time. Except to the local hockey team that generates millions in revenue for the city and for dozens of off-shoot businesses. Them you can tell to go to hell.
We had a bunch of places renamed in BC. Some catch on, some don't. You can rename them, you can't really force people to use them.
I haven't heard Queen Charlotte Island in forever. Everybody says Haida Gwai now. And perhaps more significantly, because of the renamings up north, folks are a lot more interested in First Nations history in the area. And teh history is quite interesting. The Haida were like the Vikings of the area--Island nation warriors and all that. Lots of horrible history there.
But the Squamish names never catch on due to their lack of vowels and us English speakers don't know how to pronounce the letter 7, or underscore-x.
We use Salish Sea all the time in my business, which includes a lot of mariners. Sounds better than "Georgia Strait / Puget Sound"
Vancouver--stupid name for a town. I quite like one of its original names--Terminal City. If the First Nations have a better name, I'm on board.
Building on what Zipperfish said, I think what will happen in the long run is that either some places will be renamed, most likely ones that we settlers aren't so attached to, while others get a sort of "co-naming", IOW some recognition of what their traditional Indigenous names are. It's highly unlikely places like Canmore or Calgary will be formally renamed-any politician who tried that wouldn't have enough left of their career to fill a teacup.
Go back and read what the lawyer said in the article-this is a way for the Stoney people to assert their land rights and title...which , like it or not, recognized by Section 35 of the 1982 Constitution Act.
Seriously, a lot of these problems would be fixed, or at least greatly diminished, if we didn't stop digging in our own heels about everything from underfunding Indigenous services to recognizing land rights and not wearing headdresses people haven't earned.
Telling Indigenous people that they should just become Canadian isn't going to work. We've been trying it for centuries, even attempting to force the issue, and it
I just can't see the government agreeing to allow the renaming of so many places, at least not on an official level.
You forget who your national and provincial PM's are.
But to agree to change the names of so many communities, and especially a city as big as Calgary, is an enormous undertaking. People will absolutely freak out.
Calgary - for normal folks it's now a great place to see receding behind you in your rear-view mirror. This place is genuinely fucked.
I personally miss the Queen Charlotte Islands.
So do I, but I don't live there. The resident's don't seem to be complaining and the cities have the same names.
But having lived in many places I'm a little annoyed at "Salish Sea", "Great Bear Rain Forest" and "Metrotown" cuz I never, ever heard anyone call them that.
Only big enough to be a sea if you're stupid enough to be out there in a canoe or kayak in a gale warning. And all the neighbours called them the Central Coast or Old Orchard...
http://calgaryherald.com/news/local-new ... garys-name
I really hate this stupid fucking city sometimes.
I haven't heard Queen Charlotte Island in forever. Everybody says Haida Gwai now. And perhaps more significantly, because of the renamings up north, folks are a lot more interested in First Nations history in the area. And teh history is quite interesting. The Haida were like the Vikings of the area--Island nation warriors and all that. Lots of horrible history there.
But the Squamish names never catch on due to their lack of vowels and us English speakers don't know how to pronounce the letter 7, or underscore-x.
We use Salish Sea all the time in my business, which includes a lot of mariners. Sounds better than "Georgia Strait / Puget Sound"
Vancouver--stupid name for a town. I quite like one of its original names--Terminal City. If the First Nations have a better name, I'm on board.
Go back and read what the lawyer said in the article-this is a way for the Stoney people to assert their land rights and title...which , like it or not, recognized by Section 35 of the 1982 Constitution Act.
Seriously, a lot of these problems would be fixed, or at least greatly diminished, if we didn't stop digging in our own heels about everything from underfunding Indigenous services to recognizing land rights and not wearing headdresses people haven't earned.
Telling Indigenous people that they should just become Canadian isn't going to work. We've been trying it for centuries, even attempting to force the issue, and it
Just.
Hasn't.
Worked.