'It's not reconciliation but it's reclamation': Cree language expert wants to see more traditional names reclaimed
A Cree language expert in Saskatchewan is hopeful the provincial government will allow Indigenous people to apply to reclaim their traditional names on government identification after the federal government committed to a similar plan on Monday.
The Government of Canada announced Monday that Indigenous people may apply to reclaim their traditional names on passports and other government ID. The move comes in response to a call to action from the 2015 Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The call to action demanded governments allow survivors and their families to restore names changed by the residential school system.
After graduating with a bachelor of arts in Cree Language and Literacy, Darian Âcikahtê said he now understands how to pronounce his name properly.
“I’m trying to even teach myself, cause it’s been 23 years of saying Agecoutay. Now that I know the language, I know how it sounds, Âcikahtê, so now I’m trying to teach myself,” Darian Âcikahtê said.
Maintaining traditional languages is crucial to keeping a culture alive, according to Âcikahtê.
On his home reserve of Cowessess First Nation, only a handful of members still have their traditional names. He said this is a result of the work done to assimilate Indigenous children in residential schools.
“Last names at the time of treaty signings that have been lost, like ê-kwêkwânâpê, nîkânikwânâpê, nîpâpinês, all those names, you don’t hear them anymore on my reserve,” Âcikahtê said.
Many from Cowessess now have french last names, or their Indigenous names have been anglicized.
Âcikahtê said he’s thankful Indigenous people can reclaim their traditional names on federal IDs, and said it's important the province offers the same opportunity.
The Government of Saskatchewan said in an email to CTV News it is aware of the announcement made by the federal government, and it has yet to determine whether there is any impact to the current process for Saskatchewan residents.
All fees will be waived for the name-changing process, which pertains to passports, citizenship certificates and permanent resident cards.
“That’s reclamation you know? It’s not reconciliation but it’s reclamation, and that’s what we kind of need,” he said.
Not everyone will be interested in reclaiming their traditional name, Âcikahtê said, but he explained it’s critical for Indigenous people to have the option to chose for themselves.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.