New policy could mean new names for Central Okanagan parks

The Regional District Central Okanagan board will be asked to consider approving a new parks naming and renaming policy at their Monday (July 25) meeting.

A staff report notes that in the decade since the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and in the spirit of reconciliation, many governments around the world are revisiting colonial names given to places.

These names often replaced historic and traditional Indigenous names that had existed for centuries, and in many places still exist, the report adds.

Over the past 12 years, the RDCO’s Parks Service has engaged with local Indigenous syilx communities in the dual naming of select regional park trails. The RDCO has generally based names after the locality in which a park exists, which has resulted in most regional and community parks ending up with colonial-based names.

The report adds a best practice review was done by parks staff in an effort to update the existing policy to consider renaming and dual naming of RDCO parks where Indigenous names exist, or for places of significance for local Indigenous communities.

The review also includes opportunities for First Nation communities and regional or local community-based organizations to nominate the renaming of parks.

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