Draft Toponymy Evaluation Process

March 17, 2022

VIA EMAIL Anne.hamilton@gnb.ca

Anne Hamilton

Migmawel Tplu'taqnn

Heritage and Archaeological Services Branch Tourism, Heritage and Culture

P. O. Box 6000

Fredericton NB E3B 5H1

Dear Ms. Hamilton:

Re: Draft Toponymy Evaluation Process

As follow up to your presentation provided to MTI staff on February 16th and subsequent email on February 17th, MTI wishes to address some concerns and provide feedback on Tourism, Heritage, Culture's draft toponymy evaluation process.

The Mi'gmag are the original inhabitants of New Brunswick. We have occupied and cared for our lands and waters since time immemorial. Along with our Wabanaki brothers and sisters, we entered into sacred, constitutionally protected Treaties of Peace and Friendship with the Crown, and continue to exercise our Aboriginal and Treaty rights, including the rights to hunt, fish and gather uptothe present day. The Treaties have beenupheld, and these rights have been repeatedly proven and affirmed by the Supreme Court of Canada and the Courts of New Brunswick. The Mi'gmaq have never ceded their Aboriginal Title ofownership and stewardship over the lands and waters of New Brunswick to the Crown.

Place names are an incredibly vital part of our history and culture. They describe the features of the land, and remind us of important places, stories, andevents. Placenamesareofteninterrelated,andallowustomaintain sophisticated mental maps of our territory. One cannot simply restore some place names without looking at how they relate to other places names in our territory.

Removing Mi'gmag place names was a part of the process of attempting to erase our history and try to deny our connection to the lands and waters. Any process to restore Indigenous place names must be Indigenous-led, and not simply a Crown-led process in which the Mi'gmaq are merely consulted.

Migmawel' Tplu'taqnn has initiated our own process to confirm Mi'gmaq place names across the territory, with the intention to make them more widely known. MTI has engaged researchers and elders to identify these place names and will be reaching out to THC to collaborate on a process to restore these place names.

While we recognize that there is particular pressure to remove racist place names, ti is important to consider Indigenous place names as part of a larger whole. Any determination of how place names should be prioritized for restoration needs to come from the Mi'gmaq themselves.

If THC receives requests for place name changes from other groups, ti si expected that the Mi'gmag wil be engaged at the earliest point possible. MTI would like to recommend that Mi'gmag representative sit on the technical review committee.

The draft process document you provided mentions that in the event that there is a conflict between a proposed name (or name change) and a name identified through the Technical Review (such as a previously unrecognized Indigenous name), a conflict resolution mechanism will inform the final Technical Recommendation. We would like to receive more details of this conflict resolution process. It is important to bear in mind that the Mi'gmaq are rights holders with a relationship with this territory since time immemorial, and not merely stakeholders in a government process.

MTI looks forward to further discussion around this process and the opportunity to restore Mi'gmaq place names throughout the territory.

Sincerely.

Tracy Anne Cloud

Director of Trilateral Negotiations