Georgina Franki, one of the few T艂谋台ch谦 language teachers in the Northwest Territories, says the renaming of Yellowknife landmarks to reflect Indigenous history requires context and considerable feedback.
The YK1 School Board recently chose the name SA国际影视传媒溎畉艂SA国际影视传媒櫱�SA国际影视传媒� SA国际影视传媒� the Wiilideh word for cranberry SA国际影视传媒� for the school that will replace J.H. Sissons.
SA国际影视传媒淵ou canSA国际影视传媒檛 just put SA国际影视传媒榗ranberrySA国际影视传媒� on a school just because it sounds good,SA国际影视传媒� Franki says. SA国际影视传媒淵ouSA国际影视传媒檝e got to have a history, a meaning behind it, you know? Because thereSA国际影视传媒檚 so many beautiful people that were part of the history of Yellowknife. Why does it have to be cranberries?SA国际影视传媒�
The school board explained its choice of name by explaining that the site used to be an important foraging ground for the Dene.
In June 2021, the City of Yellowknife released a draft of its Reconciliation Action Plan. Included in the document was a promise to rename landmarks, parks and streets in the city that have Western names, such as Range Lake and Frame Lake, with Indigenous names. In the plan, the municipality promised to change the names in consultation with the Yellowknives Dene First Nation and the North Slave M茅tis Alliance.
SA国际影视传媒淚 like to look at it as a beginning,SA国际影视传媒� says Franki. SA国际影视传媒淚f we see with our eyes that thereSA国际影视传媒檚 changes happening, we might look at it as truth and reconciliation.SA国际影视传媒�
She grew up speaking the T艂谋台ch谦 language as she and her family pursued a nomadic lifestyle in the 1960s.
She learned to read and write in T艂谋台ch谦 at age 50 while recovering from an accident by reading from a T艂谋台ch谦 Bible and a dictionary.
Now, she teaches the language to students at Coll猫ge Nordique, along with the culture and traditions of the T艂谋台ch谦 people.
Franki says she hopes community members can be involved in the decisions to rename Yellowknife landmarks.
SA国际影视传媒淚 think they should have a language committee, a society where they can come together,SA国际影视传媒� she says. SA国际影视传媒淭heySA国际影视传媒檙e on the T艂谋台ch谦 land, or the Wiilideh land, so they should have some sort of committee to decide.SA国际影视传媒�
Because of her intimate relationship with her mother tongue, Franki has strong feelings about the changes that are coming to place names in Yellowknife.
Mary Sundberg, a Dene translator and interpreter, says she approves of the renaming project, but with some reservations.
SA国际影视传媒淭hey need to consult with the Elders in the community. The Elders, they tell us the history of our people,SA国际影视传媒� she says. SA国际影视传媒淲e did have Dene names for almost every place, even in Yellowknife.SA国际影视传媒�
Sundberg says itSA国际影视传媒檚 also important that the names be spelled properly. She points to her own community of Dettah as an example, which was incorrectly spelled as SA国际影视传媒淒etahSA国际影视传媒� on an official document in 1971 and kept that incorrect spelling for five decades.
