The Province of B.C. has refused to allow a Campbell River couple to register their baby害羞草研究所檚 traditional Kwak害羞草研究所檞ala name because it uses specialized First Nations lettering.

害羞草研究所淢y partner害羞草研究所檚 from this territory,害羞草研究所� Chrystal Smith said. 害羞草研究所淲e just want to honour the land we害羞草研究所檙e on.害羞草研究所�

位ug史al蓹s K害羞草研究所檃la害羞草研究所檃sk Shaw was born on Jan. 12. Smith and her partner Raymond Shaw had planned to give him a traditional name since before he was born. Shaw is Wei Wai Kum (Campbell River), Smith is Tsym害羞草研究所檚yen and Haisla and has been adopted into the Heiltsuk Nation.

They had discussed the possibility of a traditional name with the head of Shaw害羞草研究所檚 family. They were particularly interested in a place name from somewhere in the Wei Wai Kum territory. When 位ug史al蓹s was born, they settled on a name of a mountain in Loughborough Inlet that translates to 害羞草研究所渢he place where people were blessed.害羞草研究所�

害羞草研究所淭here害羞草研究所檚 a back story that goes with that mountain,害羞草研究所� Smith said. 害羞草研究所淎nd we decided that害羞草研究所檚 who 位ug史al蓹s was. That害羞草研究所檚 who he is. There害羞草研究所檚 no other name for him.害羞草研究所�

But when they went to register the name using the province害羞草研究所檚 online registration system, it wouldn害羞草研究所檛 accept the Kwak害羞草研究所檞ala characters in the name. So, they sent in a paper copy of the application but that attempt ran into a technical glitch and so they had to re-do it. During the second attempt they pointed out the correspondence had spelled the name wrong. Smith offered to email the name with the proper lettering but was told by the staff member that they couldn害羞草研究所檛 do that. So, she spelled it all out and the employee wrote that down and said it would take a couple of weeks.

But on March 3, they received a letter from Registrar General Jack Shewchuk saying the proposed name contravened the Vital Statistics Agency害羞草研究所檚 current naming standards which only recognizes the standard letters in the Latin alphabet, the standard set of French characters (the acute and grave accents, the circumflex, the umlaut and cedilla) and the use of apostrophes, periods and hyphens as long as they are not next to each other or lead to confusion in interpretation.

害羞草研究所淲hile the agency continues to meet with our business partners to facilitate the use of additional diacritic characters, we are currently unable to accept your child害羞草研究所檚 name as you have proposed it,害羞草研究所� Shewchuk wrote. 害羞草研究所淭he reason for this is the impact that the registration of this information would have on our partners and their systems that are unable to accept these symbols or reproduce them onto their secondary identification documents such as a driver害羞草研究所檚 licence or health care card.害羞草研究所�

The letter offers variations on the couple害羞草研究所檚 names that would be acceptable to the system included Aug害羞草研究所檞alas or Augwalas but Smith and Shaw won害羞草研究所檛 compromise on the name.

害羞草研究所淭here is no compromise. He is 位ug史al蓹s and he won害羞草研究所檛 be registered until we害羞草研究所檙e allowed to register him, which is ridiculous,害羞草研究所� Smith said. 害羞草研究所淵eah, I害羞草研究所檓 done compromising. Indigenous people have been compromising since colonization happened.害羞草研究所�

Smith and Shaw害羞草研究所檚 situation is not unique. A Squamish woman was in the news recently about being unable to register her baby害羞草研究所檚 name which includes an 害羞草研究所渦nacceptable害羞草研究所� character. Salia Joseph and her partner Joseph Currie, whose heritage is Cree and Blackfoot, have named their daughter Al铆la7, which means wild raspberry. The province, however, won害羞草研究所檛 recognize the 7 character in the name.

To Smith and Shaw, what害羞草研究所檚 additionally annoying about the situation is that the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) has an article that references the use of Indigenous languages, writing systems and names. It says, 害羞草研究所淚ndigenous peoples have the right to revitalize, use, develop and transmit to future generations their histories, languages, oral traditions, philosophies, writing systems and literatures, and to designate and retain their own names for communities, places and persons.害羞草研究所�

On top of that, the B.C. government just unveiled a five-year action plan on implementing the UNDRIP.

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害羞草研究所淵eah, it is super-frustrating,害羞草研究所� Smith said. 害羞草研究所淎nd with the 97 Calls to Action (from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission report), with the adoption of UNDRIP, like, ridiculous that we have to do this, that we have to continue to fight like this just to be recognized. And that害羞草研究所檚 what it is, they害羞草研究所檙e not recognizing us. Still.害羞草研究所�

Speaking to CTV News about the Salia Joseph story, Health Minister Adrian Dix commiserated with First Nations families, acknowledging that the situation could be 害羞草研究所渄istressing.害羞草研究所� A statement from the ministry to CTV said the government is committed to ensuring that Indigenous languages are living, used, taught and visible, including ensuring parents can register the births of their children with traditional names.

editor@campbellrivermirror.com
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