The new council paused for a moment of reflection after the land acknowledgement was read for the first time. (Photo: YouTube)
Saint John Common Council has passed a motion to rename Indiantown, a neighbourhood in the old north end known as a local trading post as far back as the 1770s.
The motion declares that the city will stop using the name in its records, and staff will work to have it removed from other sources, including Google Maps, as soon as possible.
The city will now move into the renaming process, which involves consulting with stakeholders, including Indigenous community members.
Eastern Circle, a local Indigenous-led community group, originally approached council about changing the neighbourhood’s name.
Mykayla Spinney, one of the group’s co-founders, said the members were pleased to see the name change be approved so quickly, but they want to see Common Council commit to continued strides toward reconciliation.
“We want (council) to follow the 94 Calls to Action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission,” she said. “We really want to push for a friendship centre to be built in the community, and I think building it in the old north end, in Indiantown, would be a great almost-memorial of what that place used to be.”
Motion passes unanimously
Multiple councillors spoke in support of the motion before it passed unanimously.
Councillor David Hickey put forward an additional motion asking city staff to put together a presentation on how they can implement more of the calls to action.
Councillor Paula Radwan said the reconciliation process “needs to happen,” though it’s not a one-stop solution.
“I really hope that the community will embrace the Indigenous community, and I want to be able to see businesses, art centres, community organizations, multicultural organizations, celebrating the beautiful and unique culture of the Indigenous people,” Radwan said.
“We don’t just welcome you, we absolutely want you every step of the way.”
Eastern Circle to continue pushing for reconciliation
Spinney says Eastern Circle will consult with the city on the renaming process. She believes it’s important that council maintains a relationship with the Indigenous community over the course of their term.
“When it comes to decisions like this, as a white person you can’t really make decisions that are going to affect the Indigenous culture, Indigenous people, and what we’ve gone through and what we’re doing,” Spinney said.
Moving forward, she says the group is optimistic the new council is open to making progressive changes.
Monday’s council meeting, the first since the 2021 municipal election, kicked off with a smudging ceremony performed by Spinney, and Eastern Circle’s other co-founders, Cassandra McLaughlin and Kateri Hibbert. That ceremony was followed by a land acknowledgement, which will be read before each subsequent council meeting.
Before the motion to rename the neighbourhood was tabled, city staff gave a presentation on the history of residential schools and Indigenous-settler relationships in Canada and New Brunswick.
Spinney says they were impressed with the presentation. She’s optimistic council will work to make the right decisions to push reconciliation forward in the next term.
She adds that the Eastern Circle team doesn’t plan to go anywhere or quit advocating for reconciliation.
“We’re definitely not going to stop, and we’re not going to get quiet about things that we believe in. We’re just going to keep pushing forward until what we think is right is done.”
