Sault Ste. Marie and area should return to the name it had prior to colonization, says Chief Dean Sayers of Batchewana First Nation.
The idea isn’t a new one, Sayers has been advocating for the area to be renamed Bawating for a number of years. He brought up the idea most recently during his public remarks for the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation at the steps of city hall.
“We have an intention to take back and once again name this place as Bawating,” said Sayers to the crowd of about 150 people, which included some members of Sault Ste. Marie city council and Mayor Christian Provenzano.
The name Bawating, which means the place of the rapids in Ojibway, was used by Indigenous people to describe this area long before settlers arrived.
“That’s what this place needs to be called and I am glad there is city council here because I actually offered to draft a resolution to city council to adopt Bawating once again as the name of this area and I am willing to do that again and work together to make sure that happens in the near future,” said Sayers.
Renaming geographical features is not unheard of in Canada. In 2009 the Queen Charlotte Islands in British Columbia was renamed Haida Gwaii and during World War I the city of Berlin in Ontario changed its name to Kitchener, among others.
SooToday reached out to Sayers for an interview for this story last week but did not receive an immediate response.
When reached by phone about the idea, Provenzano said Sayers first brought it to his attention a couple of years ago at a pow-wow.
Provenzano said he would like to see the Bawating name recognized as the traditional name of the community alongside Sault Ste. Marie, but does not support the idea of reverting back to the original name entirely.
Sault Ste. Marie has been in use since the 1660s when the area was named Sainte-Marie-du-Sault by Jesuit priests.
“I would be friendly to exploring ways to recognize and honour the traditional name of our community,” said Provenzano. ”I don’t see doing that in a way that fully displaces its current name.”
Provenzano said he often uses the traditional name during territorial acknowledgements or when speaking publicly about the community.
“I have intentionally and mindful used and referred to the area as Bawating since Chief Sayers raised this with me. I think it’s important I continue to do that and that we all recognize that our community, this geographic area, has another name,” said Provenzano.
The cost of completely changing the name hasn’t been studied, said Sault Ste. Marie CAO Malcolm White, but he estimates it would be far more significant than what was spent on the recent changing of the city’s logo.
”It would be a very detailed process if the community ever decided to change its name,” said White.