St. John River, or Wolostoq, is at the heart of local Indigenous community

A traditional ceremony honouring the St. John River in the culture of Indigenous people took on greater significance Saturday amid ongoing debate over the river’s name.

A ceremony of songs honouring the Wolostoq, the traditional name of the St. John River, took place along the river in Fredericton.

It comes after Arlene Dunn, the province’s Aboriginal affairs minister, told a legislative committee in April the government did not intend to change the name of the river, something the Wolastoqey community has long pursued.

Ron Tremblay, the grand chief of the Wolastoq Grand Council, said reconciliation calls on provinces to revert to traditional names for landmarks, something he says the province has refused to do.

“It is the obligation of the province to do so,” said Tremblay. 

“I guess they don’t think this is a priority, but for us this would be a great acknowledgement of who we are.”

Lisa Perley-Dutcher, a Wolastoqey grandmother (elder) involved with the council, said not reverting to the traditional name is an “assault” on the river.

“We’re trying to repair some of the broken relationships that we’ve had with our non-Indigenous brothers and sisters,” she said. “If we’re gonna have a good future together we have to start listening and honouring these things.”

While it seems agreement with the province on a name change doesn’t appear imminent, Tremblay said the council will start reaching out to communities along the river to make their appeal.

“We’re gonna ask various cities and villages up and down Wolostoq to identify this as Wolostoq,” he said.

Perley-Dutcher said she hopes the name catches on with the greater river valley community.

“I think if the mass of people start just … referring to the river as Wolostoq, then I think it’ll shift,” she said. “It’s gonna happen and I hope I am around to see it happen.”

She said it was “heartwarming” to see so many people turn out for the ceremony.

“I’d say … probably three-quarters of the people that were here were non-Indigenous,” she said. “So that’s really nice to see that as well.”

• ‘No intention’ of changing St. John River’s name to Wolastoq, cabinet minister says
• Racism report’s idea for naming river ‘Wolastoq Saint John’ is tone deaf, chief says

Tremblay said he wasn’t as surprised to see a large turnout, adding he knows the movement to revert to the traditional name has supporters.

“I’m not surprised, but it feels pretty darn good.” said Tremblay.

With files from Lars Schwarz