Upon hearing the news that Prince George city councillors elected (nearly) unanimously to change the name of Fort George Park to Lheidli T'enneh Memorial Park, a funny feeling rose up inside of me. It was the same feeling I felt after taking part in the Canada Winter Games early this year. It was the same feeling that I get every time I join community events like Summerfest, Canada Day and the International Student Welcome Event at City Hall. It was pride.
I started this column before Hell Yeah Prince George, before Take On PG, and before the Winter Games.
I started writing this column because I loved this city and I came home to a city that I wanted to be proud of.
It is easy to only see the mean in people.
It is easier to avoid the downtown so we don't have to acknowledge the homeless and empty shops.
It is easy to slough off the small miracles of kindness that members of our community are doing to instead focus on the potholes and rundown buildings in the heart of our city.
For those of us who were born here and have lived most of our lives in Prince George, we are used to having a small dusty speck of civic pride in our hearts that is wrapped in an envelope of shame and apology. I was not used to feeling nothing but pride in the actions of our elected officials.
Bravo, councillors! Do not get sucked in to the racist, stupid drivel of the naysayers for the name change.
Changing the name of Fort George Park (an essentially meaningless name) to Lheidli T'enneh Memorial Park (an inherently more meaningful name) is a marvellous act that moves towards reconciliation with the Lheidli T'enneh people.
I think that most people who are against the name change are nervous about pronunciation and spelling.
People, as a whole, do not like change. Change is scary. I would ask that my fellow citizens of Prince George take a breath before launching into a rant about how the name change is outrageous or destroying our history or other such nonsense.
Let's break down the former name Fort George Park. Do we live in Fort George? No.
Is "Fort George" a particularly evocative name? No. It sounds like a place where old men live.
Now Lheidli T'enneh Memorial Park is different. Lheidli sounds like lately which rolls off my tongue in a pleasant way.
The word itself sounds like a stroll in a park on a sunny day.
The word means "where two rivers flow together" which, in addition to being factually true, is a beautiful image. It's poetry.
T'enneh means "The People" and word, once you learn how to pronounce it, is fun to say.
Memorial is a word that English speakers use to recognize and remember that someone has died. People are buried in this park and horrible, catastrophe events have occurred to an entire village of people sanctioned by our local government at the time.
There is an unmarked grave with babies and children who died of smallpox in this park.
The word memorial is such a small and paltry gesture in light of what occurred on the banks of these two rivers that having this park bare the word memorial is, in fact, the absolute least we (as a city) can do to recognize the history of this place.
A village was burned, people died and the survivors were forcibly relocated to a place considerably less nice.
Thankfully, the elected officials of our city (mostly) felt the same.
Well done (with one strange exception, you know who you are). We will all learn how to spell and pronounce the park's new name and you'll barely remember the ol' Fort George Park days.
There is a park formerly known as Glenview Park that I played in when I was a child.
That park is now known as Darren Fitzpatrick Bravery Park.
The new name does not take away any of my memories of playing in the park as a child. I take my own kids to play in this park. It is still a fun park.
Not once have I ever thought "Hey, I wish this park was still named Glenview Park. I sure can't enjoy this park anymore because the name is different."
When I look at the name of the park and I remember that this park is named for a local boy who gave his life in service of his country, I feel saddened for this boy's family and their loss.
It makes me cherish the time that I have with my own children and I am grateful for that reminder.
I hope that in time the cranky-pants naysayers who are outraged for absolutely no good, non-racist reason will relax and realize that the name change isn't about them.
It is about recognizing, honouring and paying respect to a group of people who live in, and have lived in, this area before Fort George was established.
It is the absolute least we can do.
