Ontario city scraps Indian Road in favour of Ojibway name

Kingston will rename Indian Road , a short residential street home to just over 60 addresses, after a tense debate Tuesday night.

The motion to rename the street, which is near Strathcona Park, passed in an 8-5 vote. It will now be called Aki Road, the Ojibway name for land and earth.

Council was presented with emotive opinions of residents, both for and against the name change. Some argued the Indian Road held sentimental value and that changing the name would create an administrative hassle for those living there.

Others said the name celebrates Kingston’s Indigenous community and is easy to say and spell.

Shannon Beckstead, a Kingston resident and Minegoziibe Anishinab member, disputed that.

“This is a matter that feels like a very cut-and-dry example of both equity and decolonization. Unless you are an Indigenous person, you can only hypothesize how it feels for someone to call you an Indian,” she said.

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“It’s not a word most of us love, and it’s a word that none of us chose.”

Brandon Maracle began his delegation by introducing himself with his Indian Registration Number.

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Maracle, who is Kanyen’keha:ka from Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory and the executive director of the Kingston Native Centre and Language Nest, said he memorized numbers in high school to prove he wasn’t “too white to be Indian.”

“I feel ashamed of that moment even here. And that’s what Indian means to me,” he said.

“An Indian Registration number makes me no more Mohawk than drinking water makes me a fish.”

Indian is a derogatory and harmful term, Maracle added.

“Changing the name of Indian Road won’t undo this history,” he said. “But keeping Indian and Indian Road asks Indigenous people in Kingston to continue seeing this history reflected on a public street name in an official capacity.”

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Dennis Mahoney said his family has lived on Indian Road since 1964 and asked council to consider its value.

“It’s part of who we’ve been our whole lives. It’s a place we cherish,” he said. “It’s home and it seems like it’s being pushed aside.”

Mahoney said door-to-door surveys undertaken by Coun. Jeff McLaren suggested the majority of residents did not want a name change.

Daniel Shipp, who also lives on Indian Road, said he accompanied McLaren on some of his surveys, but argued the results are being misrepresented.

“Generally speaking, the responses were mixed,” Shipp said. “I think it’s actually accurate that last year when we came to council that 65 per cent of the street residents were in favour of a change.”

McLaren asked Shipp if he even recalled working together.

“I thought we were doing a lot of things together, like helping people learn about Indigenous populations. I thought we were working together to help a community come around,” Shipp responded.

“But [McLaren] was always very clear that his direction on this issue stemmed from what he saw was his authority coming from the people on the street.”

McLaren said the data speaks for itself and reaffirmed his position that changing the name would wipe away the history shared by those living on the street.

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“I want you guys to consider for a moment what could be lost with this name change. If you’ve ever had a sentimental value to something in your past, then you can feel what people are about to lose,” he said. “It hurts.”

Coun. Gregory Ridge said the risk of harm to Indigenous peoples is greater if the name stays, and Coun. Brandon Tozzo agreed.

He alluded to other Canadian municipalities that have changed the names of streets that were considered harmful or outdated.

According to a report from staff, the municipality of Greenstone in northern Ontario, Whitewater Township in the Ottawa Valley, Oshawa, Winnipeg, Halifax and Kitchener have all conducted reviews of renaming street names. In four of these cases, street names were changed. Halifax and Kitchener continue to conduct their reviews.

In addition to renaming Indian Road to Aki Road, Indian Road Park will be renamed to Odamino Park.

Kingston city staff said those living on Indian Road will receive financial compensation to aid in changing addresses and other administrative changes.

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