B.C. parents fight to have spelling of son's Indigenous name recognized by province

A Campbell River, B.C., woman is elated over the birth of her third child, but she's having her joy tainted somewhat as she struggles to register her son's name with the province.

The boy's parents, who are Indigenous, want to give their son an Indigenous name. However, they say the province won't recognize the name because it uses symbols and characters in its spelling.

"Shortly after he was born we received a letter and they spelled his name entirely wrong, so I was like, 'Uh oh, this is an issue,'" said Crystal Smith.

Smith and her husband, Raymond Shaw, planned to name their son λugʷaləs, pronounced Glu-go-lus.

"His name is spelled with a lambda, a u, g, raised w, a, l, schwa and an s," said Smith.

He's named after a landmark on traditional land near Sayward, B.C., which means "where people were blessed," according to Shaw.

"His name comes from a mountain here, just like half an hour, 45 minutes in Loughborough Inlet. It's a Kwak’wala word," said the boy's father.

B.C. government workers have made suggestions on how the name could work in English, but the couple is refusing. The parents posted their frustrations on social media, and say they've seen support.

"The response on Facebook has been pretty supportive, so everyone’s saying this is ridiculous, like it’s an easy fix," said Smith.