Gimli renames roads named after colonization

Another rural Manitoba community has voted to change the names of streets previously named after the act of colonization.

“Changing these street names is just one step in our ongoing journey of reconciliation, learning and growth,” Gimli Mayor Kevin Chudd said after a Sept. 25 council meeting in the RM of Gimli, where council voted unanimously to rename four Gimli streets that all contained the word colonization.

With the vote the Gimli roads previously named South Colonization Road, North Colonization Road, Colonization Close, and Colonization Road have been renamed South Beach Road, Loni Beach Road, 6th Avenue, and Ramsay Road respectively.

The move comes more than two years after some Gimli residents started an online petition asking for the names to be changed, claiming that the original names were offensive to both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, and could be “traumatizing” to Indigenous people who live near or drive down any of those four roads in the community north of Winnipeg.

“Colonization is defined as the action or process of settling among and establishing control over the Indigenous people of an area; the action of appropriating a place or domain for one’s own use,” a statement on the 2021 petition reads.

“We have many great attributes in the RM of Gimli that are worth celebrating and giving honour through place names and road signs. Colonization, however, is not one of them.”

Chudd said he hopes the name changes will be just one of many moves the current council in Gimli will make to work towards reconciliation, and to build relationships with Indigenous people and communities in the area.

“Our history is built on the strong relationship between the Indigenous and Métis people and our community,” Chudd said.

“It’s our responsibility to continuously foster these relationships.”

The changes come less than two years after another Manitoba road named after colonization was renamed.

In November of 2021, the former Colonization Road in St.Clements, a street located along Highway 59, north of Selkirk and south of the Brokenhead Ojibway Nation, was renamed Reconciliation Road, and the name change was celebrated with a ceremony at the corner of Highway 59 and Reconciliation Road.

St. Clements Mayor Debbie Fiebelkorn said at the time that she had heard the previous name had been troubling and offensive to many, including residents who lived in Brokenhead, and often travelled past the road while travelling on Highway 59 to get to and from the First Nations community.

“It currently resonates with those who have been affected directly or indirectly by colonialism and are reminded by the display of colonial public names and the negative impact of colonization,” Fiebelkorn said.

This story was originally published in The Winnipeg Sun. It is republished under a Creative Commons license as part of the Local Journalism Initiative.