An effort to rename an Inuvik street associated with the residential school system has moved to its final stage and approval is almost certain.
A public hearing held on Tuesday evening received no submissions, meaning the process of renaming Ruyant Crescent heads to the town’s council for final approval.
The new name will be Jak Zheii Place. In Gwich’in, jak zheii means blueberry.
“There’s not much danger of it not being approved,” said Mayor Clarence Wood.
According to a list of street names published by the town, Ruyant Crescent was named after a Roman Catholic priest who operated the Grollier Hall student residence for 25 years.
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Grollier Hall opened in 1959 as a residence run by the Roman Catholic Church, then was taken over by the NWT government in the 1970s, remaining in operation until the late 1990s.
Tuesday’s public hearing took all of four minutes to conclude.
Acting senior administrator Cynthia Pihlaja said people living on the street had been notified of the proposed name change.
Once final approval is received, the town will make new road signs and notify people about changes to their physical address.
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“It shouldn’t affect people’s mailing address but it will affect their physical address, which might have some implications with regard to, for instance, emergency services,” Pihlaja said.
Ruyant Crescent surrounds a small park. That park’s name “will also be changed at the same time,” Pihlaja added.
Inuvik’s deputy mayor, Natasha Kulikowski, thanked the town’s naming committee for its work.
“I look forward to seeing what other options are come up with in the future,” Kulikowski said.
The town’s mayor has said he expects multiple streets to be similarly renamed.
