Regina commission votes 8-1 to rename Dewdney Park to Buffalo Meadows Park, council to make final decision

The Regina planning commission voted eight to one in favor of changing the name of Dewdney Park in North Central to Buffalo Meadows Park on Wednesday evening.

The new name will now go before Regina city council next week. The City Council unanimously approved the renaming of Dewdney Pool – in the park – last week.

Councilor Terina Shaw was the only one to vote against the new name. CBC Saskatchewan has contacted Shaw for comment.

Previous city government reports noted that Edgar Dewdney was a historical figure “directly responsible for the development and administration of harmful policies toward Indigenous peoples,” including the creation and supervision of residential schools.

In July 2020, the group Decolonizing Relations submitted a petition requesting that the pool, park and Dewdney Avenue be renamed. The city is currently creating a process to review the name of the avenue.

Joely BigEagle-Kequahtooway told the commission Wednesday that the name change is an act of reconciliation and “reclaiming that identity and that connection.”

“Not necessarily just indigenous people, but all over the world people are talking about decolonization and reimagining their future,” she said.

BigEagle-Kequahtooway said the new name is part of the heritage of the town which was originally known as the “Pile of Bones” because of the piles of buffalo bones.

“When you look at the reverse image, that would mean it was buffalo country,” she said.

“So part of what’s happening today is reimagining how our future would look by reclaiming space for my siblings and my extended Indigenous family in the city of Regina so that we can begin to feel that we belong to this space.

The park’s new name was approved by the North Central Community Association and the Central Area Board of Trustees. If the city council approves the name change, the city will then work with local groups and a local elder to host a ceremony in spring 2021.