First Nation upset as bitter debate over giving school Indigenous name ends in 'compromise'

It began as a reconciliation effortto bestow a new,Indigenous name ona high school in Prince George, B.C.

But it sparked vehement oppositionand a racist backlash in a school district where more than 25 per centof the students are Indigenous.

After two months ofdivisive debate, school trusteesnarrowly voted for a compromise of a sort late Tuesday:Kelly Road Secondary will keep its name; and it will get a second Indigenous name,Shas Ti Secondary, too.

During avirtual School District 57 board meeting Tuesday night,trustee Ron Polillo saidthe dual-name solution would "bring both histories, tell both stories. It's a win-win."

But the Lheidli T'enneh First Nation, which proposed the Indigenous name, says it's"very unhappy" with the outcome.

"It's always the First Nations that have to compromise," Chief Clay Pountneytold CBC News on Wednesday morning.

"You can't give in to racism. That's just not a proper thing to do. It seems like this is still what my parents and grandparents had to go through."

Two months ago,trustees gave unanimous support to the idea of naming aschoolShasTi, which means "Grizzly Trail" in Dakelh, the local Indigenous language.Local elders described the historical significance of the area, where grizzly still roam.

The Shas Ti name would grace anew, $42-million, state-of-the-art building to replaceKelly Road Secondary. School district officials saw the proposed Indigenous renaming as a step toward reconciliation.

But the proposalsparked immediate opposition.

Students, somewearingface paint, left school to protest with placards along Highway 97. Parents picketed the district office. Others organized petitions and online opposition.

In the end, several thousand people sentletters and emails to the school district,and responded to an online survey. The majority wanted Kelly Road to keep its name.

'Racist overtone'

School superintendent Anita Richardson said many of those opposingthe name change are simply proud of their school's traditions and wanted to keep the name.

But she said more education was needed.

"There havebeen racist comments that were made, racist sentiments that were shared ... a racist overtone for sure," she told CBC News in March.

Prince George Mayor LynHall was also concerned. "That's not[like] our community and it concerns me," he said.

In a letter to the school district, read aloud before Tuesday night's decision,Pountneysaid his community was the target.

"[We]... endured racism for over 150 years and we will never concede to racism again," the chiefsaid.

"Your schools are on our unceded ancestral land and the students should be learning about us."

Trent Derrick was among three school trustees whobacked the Lheidli T'enneh'sproposalto name the school Shas Ti Secondary.

"This is not a big ask," said Derrick. "The name on a school is a symbol. They are building trust in aneducation system [that included] residential schools. This is a game changer for First Nations."

Trustees eventually voted 4-3 for the compromise of both names.

Trustee Bob Thompson, who voted for thecompromise, said he didn't want the "confrontation to get out of hand."

Even after trustees voted to keep the Kelly Road school name,racist comments andthreats of violence were posted toa Facebook group that opposed the renaming.

The new Kelly Road Secondary School/Shas Ti Secondary School is set to open in September.