Alayne McGregor
The parkway along the Ottawa River west of downtown is now officially called the Kichi Zībī Mīkan (translation: The Great River Road).
On September 29, the first road sign with the new name was unveiled, and a welcoming ceremony held on public land near the parkway, just west of the Canadian War Museum in Centretown.
At the ceremony, four elders in the Kitchissippi-Rini drum circle sang and drummed. Four jingle dress dancers (two adults and two children) performed a healing dance. They also led members of the public, many dressed in orange shirts, in a traditional round dance, repeatedly circling the elders.
One of the elders, Doug Comegan, performed an invocation, asking the spirit of the land for teachings to help us lead a good life, and acknowledging all the gifts the land had given to its original people.
An offering of berries was presented to the land, and a feast of meat, cheese, berries and other food was available to all.
For decades the parkway was called The Ottawa River Parkway; in 2012, the Stephen Harper government renamed it the Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway, in honour of Canada’s first prime minister. Many Indigenous groups strongly objected to that name because of Macdonald’s leading role in the establishment of residential schools.
In June, the National Capital Commission’s board of directors approved the name change, saying it “highlights the importance of the Ottawa River as a great and abundant river that has provided for peoples’ needs for generations, just as it does today. The river has served to build relationships, connect communities, and allow people to relate to one another.”
This name was selected through an Algonquin naming and engagement exercise, as part of a more transparent decision-making process and “toponymy” policy adopted in 2022 for naming and renaming NCC-managed assets. Names are supposed to reflect the “heritage, cultural, ethnic and gender diversity of the National Capital Region” and include perspectives from the Algonquin Nation and other Indigenous communities.
The public can submit requests to rename other NCC assets, which will be evaluated under the policy’s criteria. Names can be historical or patrimonial, honorific, Indigenous, or natural or landscape.
