N.B. stuck with racial slur in 7 place names pending procedural review

Warning: This article discusses an offensive slur. CBC has chosen to only use it once for context and censor it in later references.

For the past 10 months, Lily Lynch has been lobbying to rid New Brunswick of a dubious distinction — having the highest number of places with the derogatory term "squaw" in their name of all the provinces and territories in Canada.

"We just need to be more respectful of the fact that while this name might not affect everyone, it negatively impacts a portion of the population and has no use in today's landscape, whatsoever," said the Saint John-based Lynch, who is originally from Nova Scotia and is of white and Afro-Mi'kmaw heritage.

She described it as "deeply unsettling" to learn that the term was still in use — and so widely.

If you search the word in the federal government's Canadian Geographical Names Database, 20 results come back and seven of them are located in New Brunswick.

There's Sq--w Cap Mountain, in Restigouche County, and the nearby community of Sq--w Cap; Sq--w Barren Brook, Sq--w Barren and Sq--w Lake, which straddle the Northumberland-Victoria county line; and Sq--w Mountain and Sq--w Cap hill, both northwest of Lepreau in Charlotte County.

"They all have to be eliminated," said Lynch.

"All derogatory terms have to be eliminated from our region."

Though its origin is the Algonquian word for young woman, sq--w developed "very disrespectful," racist and misogynistic connotations after contact with European colonists.

"Settlers would call women squ--w, basically connecting them to second-class citizenship," she said, or being "mere sex objects."

She has asked elected representatives and Tourism, Heritage, and Culture Department officials to change the names.

She took part in a virtual meeting with them last winter and exchanged "dozens" of emails and "quite a few" phone calls with the parties since.

In March, Lynch learned the province's toponymy evaluation process was under review, "which would enable them to put into place a lot of reviews of name-change requests."

That's after it took several years of effort by the Black History Society to get the name of "Negro Point" changed to Hodges Point. 

More recently, some people in Saint John have suggested changing the name of "Indiantown" in the old north end.

There's also an effort under way to change the name of the St. John River to Wolastoq.

Lynch remains hopeful the "sq--w" names will be changed but feels it's all moving too slowly.

"It just doesn't seem like enough is happening to bring this issue to a conclusion," she said.

Lynch anticipated support from Tourism, Heritage, and Culture Minister Tammy Scott-Wallace, who is also responsible for the women's equality file.

But Scott-Wallace "didn't seem to take it too seriously," Lynch said.

"Our government is committed to addressing toponymy issues," said a prepared statement issued on Scott-Wallace's behalf, "but we must first have in place a solid process by which future decisions will be reached."

The statement acknowledged that requests have been received to re-evaluate some place names "so that they are more reflective of current social expectations on inclusivity." 

"I hear those calls for change," Scott-Wallace said.

It's "understandable" that people might think changing a name is "simple," said the minister.

"However, that approach is what has created the current issue." 

Changing place names is a complex process, which requires consultation with "multiple communities and sometimes other jurisdictions," said Scott-Wallace.

A proposed new process would have a mechanism to include "traditional knowledge," she said, and public input, including dialogue with First Nations.

An internal review of the proposal is happening now, she said, and after that, meetings will be scheduled to discuss it with First Nations.

Lynch suspects comfort and complacency have factored into the delay.

"Our lives are busy and … we do have a lot of other pressing issues and concerns. But at the end of the day, you have to realize that place names hold a lot of importance. 

"If it's a derogatory name that you have to see every day on your commute or know that it exists and understand the history that that implies, there just shouldn't be this type of delay. 

"It should be willingly and eagerly changed based on our requests."

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Persons add more weight to her request.

The commission's calls to action, 13 through 17, speak specifically to languages and culture, she noted, and say Indigenous people should be able to take back and reapply for names that were taken away.

Likewise, according to Article 13 of the UN declaration, she said, Indigenous people have the right to reintroduce their own names for communities, places and persons.

"It should absolutely inform the way that we move and create change in our province," said Lynch.