North Point Douglas group petitions to rename street to reflect Indigenous culture

A North Point Douglas community group is petitioning to change the name of a neighbourhood street to an Ojibwaword in an effort to recognize Indigenous culture and contribute to the process of reconciliation.

"There was a call for reconciliation and the sense that we needed to do something concrete, it wasn't enough just to say 'Oh we want to reconcile the negatives that were done,'" said Sel Burrows, chair of the North Point Douglas Residents Committee.

"And then our mayor actually called for Winnipeg to be involved in the process of reconciliation as well. This was a concrete symbol of our commitment to reconciliation with the Indigenous community," he said.

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The community group wants to change the name ofRover Avenue to Migizi Avenue. Migizimeans eagle in Ojibwa, saysDennis Daniels, executive director of the Manitoba Indigenous Cultural Education Centre.

Daniels and his staff suggested migizias a contender when the residents group reached out to them for suggestions for the new name.

Daniels said the eagle represents love in the seven teachings sacred to Indigenous culture.

"It's highly respected," he said.

Plus, Burrows said a family of eagles has lived near Rover Avenue for years.

'It'd make me very proud'

Danielshas worked in the community since 1977, he said, and said it would mean a lot to see his culture represented in the area.

"There's nothing really reflecting of our culture here in the North Point Douglas area that I can really see," he said.

"It'd make me very proud. At least we're getting recognized in the community, that we have something up there that means a lot to us, like the eagle."

Burrows said the community group chose Rover Avenue because in part because the change would directlyaffect only a handful of residents. There are only eight houses on the street, he said, and two of them are unoccupied.

"We know some of them are opposed to the change. We recognize, particularly older people since I am one myself, that change is sometimes difficult," he said.

"But we feel the importance of the process of reconciliation is such that we have to proceed even though some of the people will be unhappy with it."

Burrows said residents of two of the houses on the street have told him they object to the renaming. One of them told him she liked the existing name and didn't want it to change. The other disagreed with the rationale behind choosing an Indigenous word.

"The comment was, there's been a lot of Ukrainian people living in the area, why aren't we proposing a Ukrainian name?" Burrows said.

But Burrows said he believes an Indigenous name is crucial.

"One of the major issues in society in Canada, is the process of reconciliation, and the recognition of the harm that the larger community has done to our Indigenous community," he said.

"Anything important that's done will always have people opposing it."

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