Fort Simpson, N.W.T., looks to change the names of its schools

Two schools in Fort Simpson, N.W.T., are looking to shed their colonial names.

Thomas Simpson High School wasnamed after an explorer who never set foot in Fort Simpson.Bompas Elementary School is named for an Anglican missionary.

Neither name suits the residents of Fort Simpson anymore, according to District Education Authority chair Katherine Dempsey.

"The community is looking for names that represent the community, represent the culture, better," says Dempsey.

"Most people in the community won't even know where these names came from."

Name changes are not common for schools, and they can be time-consuming, requiring new signs, letterhead, even team jerseys.

In 1992, Fort Providence changed the name of its school from Elizabeth Ward School (after a nun who started a school in a tent in the community in the 1800s) to Deh Gah School. Dempsey says the DEA has referred to that process in its own decision to change the schools' names.

The committee is accepting suggestions for new names until Friday afternoon at 4:30 p.m.

It will review the ideas at a meeting next Tuesday.