Coquitlam students want to rename a street in Coquitlam
Anna Tosun
Staff reporter
Students from Dr. Charles Secondary School are occupied with the question: Should Dewdney Trunk Road be renamed?
Dewdney Trunk Road was one of the first major roads of the Fraser Valley in British Columbia and is now divided in three sections. The road was named after Edgar Dewdney, a previous politician and Lieutenant Governor of the North-West Territories. Dewdney was racist towards Indigenous people during his tenure. He forced them onto reservations and withheld food sources from Indigenous and Metis Nations. Ultimately, this led to them dying of starvation. The Indigenous people were dependent on aid from the state because they had already lost food due to encroachment on their natural environment. He also used this technique to force Indigenous parents to send their children to boarding schools.
Since most people have only recently learned about it, many are calling for the renaming of Dewdney Trunk Road because they don’t want someone who commited harmful acts against Indigenous communities in the past to be honoured in this way. “I actually didn´t know who he was, I definitely think though that the name of the street should change because I feel like as Dewdney the name shows that the government doesn´t want to get rid of the racism on the contrary they support it,” said Paula Lochte, grade 11. Elias Wortig, grade 11 also thinks that the city should show respect towards the Indigenous and rename the road. It is quite common to rename places to show a kind of respect to folks which were suffering in the past. Coquitlam also renamed the Riverview Lands to səmiq̓wəʔelə (pronounced Suh-MEE-kwuh-EL-uh) to acknowledge and respect the Kwikwetlem First Nation’s.
If Dewdney trunk Road could be renamed, it would be a great sign for community to show that the state is not against Indigenous people and that they are respected. It is a great start to rename places are named after “famous” people who have caused great amounts of harm.
The Indigenous people have every right to live properly in this country. They are the first peoples of these lands, and if they allow other people to come to this country, they shouldn´t get abused.
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