City officials and Indigenous elders gathered for a ceremony Friday to formally mark the renaming of Bishop Grandin Boulevard to Abinojii Mikanah and to celebrate National Indigenous Peoples Day.
The event at Jules H. Mager Park started in the late morning.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s final report identified Bishop Vital Grandin as leading the campaign for residential schools. Abinojii Mikanah (pronounced A-bin-oh-jee Mee-kin-ah), which means the Children’s Way/Road in Anishinaabemowin/Ojibwe, was chosen as the route’s new name by the Indigenous Knowledge Naming Circle and approved by city council last year.
JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS FILES
A new street sign on the former Bishop Grandin Boulevard at Waverley Street on May 7.
“The name honours the experiences of Indigenous residential and day school survivors, and the children who didn’t make it home,” a city news release said.
Council approved the street renaming bylaw in April, and the city subsequently completed the registration of survey plans with the Winnipeg Land Titles Office. Signs featuring the new name have been installed.
“Abinojii Mikanah is a tribute to the strength and resilience of Indigenous communities,” Mayor Scott Gillingham said in the news release. “As a city, we are committed to continuing our journey of reconciliation and to building a more inclusive and respectful future for all Winnipeggers.”
In the release, Anishinaabe knowledge keeper Frank Beaulieu of Sandy Bay First Nation referred to evidence being found in May 2021 of 215 children buried on the grounds of a former residential school in British Columbia. He said he thought around that time that the road should be renamed Abinojii Mikanah “to represent all children on Mother Earth.”
“I think the name will bring people of all races and cultures together. I believe our children and grandchildren unborn will walk in a humble way with humility, respect and love for one another.”
fpcity@freepress.mb.ca