Q&A: Saugeen First Nation councillors explain surprise name change for popular beach
The sign change from "Sauble Beach" to "Saugeen Beach" surprised some beachgoers on Canada Day
Councillors from the Chippewas of the Saugeen First Nation say the decision to change the name of the well-known Sauble Beach is a reflection and affirmation of the fact that the land is theirs.
The First Nation quietly changed the iconic red sign, which previously read "Welcome to Sauble Beach," and on Canada Day beachgoers were greeted by a changed sign that reads "Welcome to Saugeen Beach".
It comes after a judge found in 2023 that the Crown failed to protect and preserve a treaty it signed in 1854 in which the First Nation and neighbouring Chippewas of Nawash surrendered Saugeen Peninsula, excluding five reserve territories. One would become Reserve No. 29, the northern tip of which includes the popular beach.
Chippewas of the Saugeen Councillors Cheree Urscheler and Sonya Roote spoke with Afternoon Drive guest host Kate Adach to explain the significance of the change, and discuss the reaction.
The following has been edited for length and clarity.
Kate Adach: Why was the changing this welcome sign important to you?
Cheree Urscheler: Because we've been in this, for lack of a better word, fight, to get our land back, changing the sign was just kind of a prideful moment for me. We've been in this reclaiming stage for decades, really. I think that having it on that sign right now, especially over this past weekend, it brings all of our work [into focus].
Looking at the sign now, I just feel grateful for all of the work, and really proud and really happy that my kids and grandkids can stand beside me along with community members and see that.
Sonya Roote: It means a lot, after decades of this being in the legal system and fighting in the courts to reclaim what was always ours. It was a long battle and it took a lot out of our community. It took a lot of funds from our community. It took a lot of councillors, a lot of leadership along the years. We finally got our land back, that should have always been ours in the first place.
The sign change into Saugeen is just pretty much saying, "Yeah, this is Saugeen. You are now on Saugeen land." It's a great thing. It feels good.
KA: For many in the area, it took them by surprise. The mayor of South Bruce Peninsula issued a statement saying that the town was disappointed, saying they had not been told about the decision to change the name and that there hadn't been enough open communication. What do you two make of that?
SR: I'm sorry to hear that, but I don't know. It's been over a year since we've won the [appeal claim]. They haven't reached out to us either. It's our beach. It's our sign. I'm not looking for their approval. We're not looking for their approval.
I think it's too bad that people feel negatively about it in any way, but I'm looking at the positive.
KA: What other types of feedback are you hearing about the sign?
SR: What I've been seeing and hearing is like 80 to 90 per cent positive. I see the negatives, like the people saying, "No, how dare they, this is Sauble Beach." That's just a lack of information and education.
It's never belonged to [South Bruce Peninsula], and the mayor and everybody else, in my own opinion, should maybe even feel grateful for having it as long as they did when it was our land to begin with, and has always been our land.
CU: It's been positive for me as well. We had the community barbecue yesterday to celebrate the sign and come together with our neighbouring communities. There were so many people so happy for us, letting us know that we have their support and they're really happy to see that that this has happened.
We had a lot of people, like town people who own businesses, come up to us and tell us how great it was. There's a lot of support, on and off reserve.
KA: Are there council plans to have other changes for the beach going forward?
SR: We have a lot of plans in progress, and just to let you know, the sign itself is temporary. We're we're going to be working on that over the winter, to get our permanent sign put in place. For now, the sign that's up today is temporary.
CU: We really want to have community engagement. We want feedback from our community before we go ahead with anything permanent, So I think this winter will give us enough time to get those plans in place.