Why Change Certain Street Names and Take down Statues? Gwayakotam; Learn the Truth

May 10, 2024

Photo credit: geralt - Pixabay

In our quest for understanding and reconciliation an important element is to acknowledge certain the truths and to act differently as a result. This is not always an easy task. Recognizing some of our history in Canada has lead some of us to believe that we need to make some changes. Re-naming places and removing some monuments from public spaces is part of reshaping our future. These actions are not intended to erase the past or to accept one version of history over another they are intended to be learning experiences that take into account all of history and to begin afresh. Making these types of changes has and will lead to controversy and debate and it is important to recognize the need for a common goal in helping everyone reach a consensus on the right way forward.

Ruyant Crescent, a short residential street in Inuvik, N.W.T. was named after Father Max Ruyant, a Catholic priest who ran Grollier Hall, a residential school, for more than 20 years. The hall was a government-funded boarding facility, established in the 1950s for children from the Sahtu, Beaufort Delta and Kitikmeot regions in the N.W.T and Nunavut. It was closed in the ‘90s (one of the last residential schools closed in Canada, the last one being Kivalliq Hall in Rankin Inlet, in what's now Nunavut in 1997). As is the case with many residential schools, Grollier Hall under the tutelage of Father Ruyant, had a history of the sexual and psychological abuse of students and evidence of many wrongful deaths.

Because of this history a local committee has recommended that the name of the street honouring Father Ruyant be changed to Jak Zheii Place, a name means "blueberry" in Gwich'in. This new name was proposed after the committee sat down and listened to stories from elders about the history of the area. 

The renaming is not intended to erase the history. In fact, it is important to recognize the need to ensure the history is remembered and never repeated. The issue is ensuring we do not honour people from the past in ways that trigger hurt and pain for our indigenous people.

Renaming is important as it is an act that draws attention to an issue and forces some of us to take the time to understand why this change is important. In this case the renaming of a street in the N.W.T. may seem to be a relatively minor event but it reminds us that the impact of the residential school system was not confined to just First Nations children; but that Metis and Inuit children were also subject to the residential school system.

For the Inuit prior to the 1950s, the federal government had left education largely in in the hands of the missionary societies that operated in the Mackenzie Valley and the Yukon. It was only in the 1950s that Inuit children began attending residential schools in large numbers. The tremendous distances that Inuit children had to travel to school meant that, in some cases, they were separated from their parents for years. The establishment of day schools and what were termed small hostels in over a dozen communities in the eastern Arctic led many Inuit parents to settle in those communities on a year-round basis so as not to be separated from their children, contributing to a dramatic transformation of the Inuit economy and way of life.

In short, the Inuit experience was different than the First Nations experience but was no less devastating on the culture of the Inuit people.

It is recognized that by reviewing history and ensuring that the narrative accounts for the experience of all people, we then need to adopt an objective perspective as free from bias as possible. As we take actions such as renaming places and removing statues we need to consider all aspects and move forward with a complete story.

In another example, in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement which erupted in the U.S. in 2020-22 following the killing of a George Floyd in Minneapolis, a number of statues and monuments came under attack in Canada – many were related to figures that had some hand in the evolution of the residential school system, such as Egerton Ryerson.

Ryerson helped establish the system of free, mandatory schooling at the primary and secondary level that became Ontario’s current school system. He also founded the Provincial Normal School (1847), which became the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) and also served as principal of Victoria College, a college affiliated with University of Toronto which he helped found in 1836. He was an important historical figure who contributed a lot of good things to the formation of Ontario and Canada. His accomplishments lead to his being honoured by naming a University after him (Ryerson University).

While advocating for free and compulsory education, Ryerson supported different systems for Indigenous and non-Indigenous students. He supported the system of educating Indigenous students separately and converting them to Christianity, in order to assimilate them into Euro-Canadian culture.

On 1 July 2017, the students’ union called for changing the university’s name and removing the on-campus statue of Ryerson. Up to that point, the university’s stance had been to recognize Ryerson’s pioneering role in the public education system, while acknowledging his contributions to the abusive system of residential schools as a harmful error. In April 2022, Ryerson University was renamed Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU).

We should not forget the positive contributions Mr. Ryerson made. However, we should be careful not to honour someone who contributed to a system intended on erasing the culture and existence of our Indigenous people. It is a difficult question of balance but one that is reconciled by looking at the future and determining what we need to achieve going forward in order to bring about more and ongoing positive changes.

In so doing we are not going to escape controversy or the airing of contradictory opinions. It is the sign of a healthy society when we can voice different opinions and ideas. However, we do have the right and obligation to ensure that those opinions expressed in the public and intent on spurring action are based on verifiable truth. We cannot devolve into a society where we censor the voices of some simply because we do not like the message. And we must protect the ourselves collectively by ensuring we seek find and listen to the truth.

In Quesnel B.C. the mayor was recently (May 2, 2024) censored and had certain privileges suspended. The unanimous decision by city council was in response to reports that the mayor’s wife had given out copies of a controversial book about residential schools to people in the community and that the mayor himself had offered the book to other elected officials at a local government meeting. Council has formally condemned his actions, removed him from several committees, removed his travel budget and will not allow him to act as their representative with First Nations or other external groups. The Lhtako Dene, Nazko and Lhoosk'uz Dené First Nations have said they will refuse to work with the mayor (Ron Paull), who is also no longer welcome on land belonging to the Lhtako Dene.

The book Grave Error: How the Media Misled Us (and the Truth about Residential Schools)

is a series of essays edited by C.P. Champion and Tom Flanagan, described by its publisher as challenging several assertions made about the harms of residential schools. In publicity material for the book, publishers True North and Dorchester Books say statements that residential schools traumatized Indigenous people across generations and destroyed Indigenous languages and culture are either "totally false or grossly exaggerated."

This is the type of controversy we need to face and find positive and productive ways to address. We need to recognize that people have the right to question the veracity of any assertions made about our collective past, however ultimately, assertions made without evidence should not be allowed to taint our collective understanding.

The residential school system as envisioned by educators like Ryerson was intended to eliminate indigenous culture with the ultimate intent of solving the ‘’Indian problem’’. It is important to the future health of Canadian society that we recognize this truth and are not distracted by alternative narratives designed to assuage the collective guilt but rather accept a common goal to accept these types of difficult facts and embrace a path forward.