For Salia Joseph and her partner, naming their newborn daughter Sḵwx̱wú7mesh sníchim (Squamish language) was an important way to honor her heritage and continue the work of recovering and reviving the indigenous languages. Joseph, whose ancestral name is St’ax̱í7aluts, is from the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish nation). Joseph Currie’s partner is Cree from the Montana Indian Band and Blackfoot from the Piikani Nation. Born in North Vancouver on March 1, their baby girl was named Alíla7 – meaning wild raspberry. Since then, her parents have been trying to record her birth and name, but the province will not recognize “7” as a valid character. “My partner and I are both natives,” Joseph said. “We are raising our daughter in the Squamish area. I am a language learner and supporter. “Our language is very important to me.” Joseph is the executive director of the Sníchim Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to language learning and rejuvenation. For her and her partner, giving their daughter an indigenous name and raising her to speak her language is part of a greater effort to ensure that indigenous languages are not lost. “The idea of having a Squamish name for our daughter seemed like part of a really exciting time and the result of so much effort by our ancestors to keep our language alive and to keep it that we can use it today.” he said. “In my eyes, preserving our language and culture is relatively integrated first so that we can start at home and start with our relatives.” Salia Jospeh and her partner Joseph Currie. So when she realized that the province was not allowing her to enter 7 in her daughter’s name, she felt compelled to contact the Vital Statistics Agency of BC. “‘7’ is very important in our language. It’s very different from Squamish, and I really did not want to compromise on that. “I thought it would be okay because one in seven is on everyone’s keyboard,” he said. After contacting the agency, she was told she could edit the online form and submit a hard copy by mail. “I was very early after the birth, I was filling out documents, I was going to the post office to deliver it,” he said. But once again, the name she and her partner had chosen for their daughter was rejected because 7 is not one of the approved “special characters” and numbers are not allowed. “I just told them, ‘This is not good enough.’ If I mistype her name on it, it means I can not spell her name correctly on any of her IDs because it will not match. “Her birth certificate, her SIN card, her passport, her care card – all of these must be misspelled,” Joseph said. “It also excludes many Squamish people who have 7 in their name and will now know that they are not fit to see themselves properly represented.” 7 is a common character in Squamish and means a short pause between syllables. “The greatest speakers in collaboration with linguists developed this character in the late 1960s while translating these spoken languages into written form,” according to the Squamish Lilwat Cultural Center.
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Joseph points to Article 13 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), which specifically addresses the use of languages, writing systems and names of indigenous peoples.
“Indigenous peoples have the right to revitalize, use, develop and transmit to future generations their stories, languages, oral traditions, philosophies, writing systems and literature and to define and maintain their own names for communities, places and people “, he reads.
On Wednesday, BC released an 89-point action plan to preserve UNDRIP, with changes to be implemented over the next five years. One of the actions shows a possible solution to the situation in which Joseph is currently struggling.
The province will “adopt a comprehensive digital font that will allow indigenous languages to be included in communication, signage, services and official archives,” the plan says.
Joseph, meanwhile, says the solution offered to her is not enough at all, saying she was told to just use an English version of her daughter’s name and seek a correction sometime in the future.
“Forcing us to choose an English name when it is not an option reminds us a lot of the ancient struggles our ancestors had to go through,” he said.
“I feel that he is losing his dignity, that Squamish needs to be weakened and I do not want that for her. “I do not want it for our language or our people, and the many other people who have seven in their names in their traditional names or their own names who want to be fully represented.”
Further, he wonders when and if the change will really be possible, and what kind of documents and charges will be required.
Last year, the federal government announced a procedure for First Nations, Inuit and Métis people who had their names removed from the school housing system or the Scoop of the 1960s in order to reapply for identification documents. All relevant charges will be waived. The move was a response to one of the Truth and Reconciliation Committee’s 94 Calls for Action in 2015.
However, the rules outlined by the province for those seeking this option place limitations on what is possible. Individual names are not allowed, numbers cannot be included and “special characters” are limited to apostrophes, periods, dashes and accents in French vowels.
“Squamish has been spoken about here, where I come from, for thousands of years. English has been spoken here for a few hundred years. “This is colonialism, that is, white supremacy in action that prioritizes English and French over all the indigenous languages of these regions,” Joseph said.
Asked about the issue on Thursday, Health Minister Adrian Dix said he understood that situations like Joseph’s could be “worrying” and noted the commitment detailed in the province’s recently released action plan.
“I think we have made some active changes in this area of governance in terms of names and service to the people around it and we are definitely working to do that as soon as possible. “We are committed to acting on this,” he said.
The ministry said in a written statement that it understood the system’s limitations were frustrating for families and had a disproportionate impact on indigenous peoples.
“We know that parents have not been able to register their children’s births with names that include specific characters,” the statement said.
“We are committed to ensuring that indigenous languages live, are used, are taught and are visible in their respective areas and throughout the province – and this includes ensuring that parents can register their children’s births under traditional names.” states the statement.
Newborn Alíla7 Jospeh Currie in her mother’s arms.
Joseph says she hopes sharing her story will pave the way for these changes, saying it is a crucial part of reconciliation.
“My dad is a day school survivor, my grandparents are school survivors. So is my partner. The same thing happens with indigenous people everywhere. “Their ancestors were not allowed to speak their language and therefore, many of our family members do not speak it,” he said.
“Squads have been saying for generations that their language was backward, that they were stupid or that their language was outdated. “Seeing people claim it again, seeing it spoken openly, seeing people proudly claim it – is truly healing – and it cannot be underestimated.”
