Changes recommended for Bishop Grandin namesake streets, trail
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The City of Winnipeg’s Indigenous Relations Division is recommending renaming Bishop Grandin Boulevard, Bishop Grandin Trail and Grandin Street.
The legacy of Bishop Vital Grandin, a leading campaigner for residential schools, has been reconsidered in recent years following the release of the Final Report on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of Canada. According to a news release, the city’s executive policy committee directed the division consult with Indigenous peoples to come up with a proposal for renaming the streets “to honour Indigenous experience, culture and history.” These recommendations had been submitted for consideration at the city’s EPC meeting on March 13, though a final decision had not been made at press time.
The recommended name changes, coupled with phonetic spellings, are Bishop Grandin Boulevard to Abinojii Mikanah (A-bin-oh-gee Mee-kin-ah); Bishop Grandin Trail to Awasisak Mēskanow (Aa-wa-sis-uk Me-ska-noh); and Grandin Street to Taapweewin Way (Tap-way-win).
“It was at the time of the discovery of the 215 children. As we sat together as knowledge keepers at the workshop, when they asked my spirit, I thought of, and in clarity, that it would be named Abinojii Mikanah (Children’s Roadway),” Elder Frank Beaulieu, Bear Clan, Treaty One Nation — who was one of those that participated in the indigenous knowledge naming circle — said in the release.
Officials say these names recommendations were developed separately from the Welcoming Winnipeg process, which was adopted in January 2020 to guide the city to resolve the absence of Indigenous perspectives in Winnipeg’s historical markers and place names. Street names are not included as part of the Welcoming Winnipeg policy and continue to be governed by a street names bylaw.