Committee supports changing Saskatoon's John A. MacDonald Road to miyo-wâhkôhtowin Road

The renaming of John A. MacDonald Road to miyo-wâhkôhtowin Road has moved a step closer to reality after a Saskatoon city council committee voted in favour of the change.

In Cree, miyo-wâhkôhtowin means "good relationship." Members of the planning, development and community services committee voted unanimously in favour of the change at a meeting on Wednesday.

Macdonald was Canada's first prime minister and a key architect of the residential school system, which housed Indigenous children taken from their families from the 1870s to the 1990s. Council decided in 2021 to rename John A. MacDonald Road following the discovery of unmarked graves at residential school sites across the country.

"The name reflects the theme of reconciliation. Residential schools contributed to a breakdown in communities and relationships, and division. Good relationships will bring us together," said Melissa Cote, the city's director of Indigenous initiatives.

"This process to recommend a name was based on giving voice to those who are underrepresented and for whom the name John A. Macdonald represents harm."

Some Saskatoon residents who live on the road are not in favour of the change.

"I am curious as to how many who are making all the decisions about the road actually live on the road," said Candice Luther, a homeowner on the street since 1979.

"The renaming somewhat left us gobsmacked, disappointed and sidelined." 

Luther said some residents felt they "were bypassed" and that their input was not welcomed.

"We would like a shorter name. All our major cities are in English. English rolls off our tongue. It's our language," she said.

She said she and many others support the renaming of the street, but have been framed as being "anti-Indigenous" because they are not "happy with the choice of the name" and wanted more input into the proposed name.

Jessie Sylvestre, president of the Saskatchewan Indigenous Cultural Centre, said it is "entirely fitting" to adopt a Cree name for a street in a city and province that derive their names from Cree — Saskatchewan is a shortening of the Cree word for the Saskatchewan River, kisiskāciwani-sīpiy, and Saskatoon takes its name from the Cree word for the berries that bear the same name. 

"It is entirely in keeping with the principles of reconciliation," Sylvestre said, noting that wâhkôhtowin school is located on the street and Plains Cree language and cultural programs are taught at that school.

She said the new name reflects support for revitalization of First Nations languages.