Replacement of John A. Macdonald Road signs with miyo-wâhkôhtowin name shows a 'culture that survived': elder

Sparks flew as a city worker buzzed through an old John A. Macdonald Road sign outside Saskatoon's wâhkôhtowin School on Thursday.

It was a monumental day for many Indigenous people and other residents in the city, as the new signs for what is now miyo-wâhkôhtowin Road were installed, replacing the John A. Macdonald signs that were taken down.

Macdonald, Canada's first prime minister, has been criticized for his role in supporting the residential school system, which removed Indigenous children from their families from the 1870s to the 1990s. Many suffered horrific abuse.

The change has been a long time coming, after city council voted in favour of finding a new name for the road in June 2021.

In August 2023, council voted in favour of the name miyo-wâhkôhtowin, which means "good relationship" in Cree.

Elder Roland Duquette was a guest speaker at wâhkôhtowin School on Thursday.

He told the packed gymnasium about his experience at residential schools.

"I was a child, but my child[hood] was taken away. I was never a child until I grew up," said Duquette.

Many residential school survivors have found their own path to healing, he said, but his was in spirituality, language and ceremony.

"My behaviour was not right, but I redeemed myself from that when I found out it was not my fault," he said.

He also said Thursday's change is about more than a name — "it's more to identify another culture that survived."

After the assembly, students ran up to touch one of the new street signs and shake hands with Mayor Charlie Clark, who also spoke at the school.

Clark, who supported the name change, said it was a powerful moment.

"I just talked to a longtime leader who told me that she lived in this neighborhood and it was one of the proudest moments that she has had in her life of living in Saskatoon," he said.