Skip to content

No plans to change the name of Sir John Franklin School

There are no plans to change the name of Sir John Franklin High School or any other schools under the Yellowknife Education District No. 1 (Yk1) umbrella.

That is according to Yk1 board chair John Stephenson. The topic came up Thursday as teachers and administrators gathered for the annual Indigenous Languages and Culture Professional Development Day at Sir John Franklin School.

Changing school names became an issue late last month when the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario drafted a resolution calling for the stripping of John A. Macdonald's name from all schools named after him in that province. The teachers' union said schools should not be named after Canada's first prime minister and one of the Fathers of Confederation because he was also the architect of Canada's residential school system.

Sir John Franklin, a British explorer who travelled to the NWT in the mid-1800s, represents a colonial era in Canada's history. But Stephenson said even with Indigenous students making up roughly half of Yk1's enrollment, there is no call or proposal to remove Franklin's name from the territory's largest school.

William Greenland plays the flute at Yellowknife Education District No. 1 (Yk1)'s annual Indigenous Languages and Culture Professional Development Day luncheon at Sir John Franklin School on Thursday. Among the topics- whether Sir John Franklin School should be renamed because of its colonial overtones
John McFadden/NNSL photo

“Those are always good discussion points,” Stephenson said about the prospect of name changes. “Whenever you've got a little bit of tension in the conversation – that's when we learn – that's when we take a little risk and we do stuff and express ourselves. There is never any harm in putting those conversations on the table.”

Stephenson said he understands how people get excited about issues such as renaming schools, and symbolism behind the names, and recalled how much discussion there was around renaming the Northwest Territories.

“If there are conversations about naming features in our community and our country – I encourage people to participate,” said Stephenson. “But there are no plans or proposals to change the names of any of our schools.”

Scott Willoughby, Indigenous education co-ordinator at Yk1, said the perspectives on the issue were as numerous and diverse as the educators who had gathered for the professional development day.

“Some people think those names should be gone and lost forever,” he said. “Some people think they are respectful of the people in the past. Other people think (name changing) might just be a distraction and that there are bigger issues we need to deal with.”

Willoughby said the overall tone from educators is there are better uses of time and energy right now.

Of the seven Yk1 schools, only two have Indigenous names – K'alemi Dene School in Ndilo and

Kaw Tay Whee School in Dettah.

Willoughby added the theme for the development day was reconciliation.

“Yk1 has been following a path of reconciliation for quite a few years,” he said. “A lot of of it land-based, working with communities at sacred places. The elders from Dettah will be out at the Yellowknife River later for a feed the fire ceremony.”

Teachers heard from guest speakers inside the Northern Arts and Cultural Centre (NACC) including elder William Greenland and Winnipeg-based Indigenous storyteller and comedian Ryan McMahon.

“My message was to be brave … but to do so being kind to yourself and others,” said McMahon. “And to be patient. It's going to take a long time to work ourselves out of this mess.”

McMahon added he also told teachers not to underestimate their potential impact on students, noting he credits one of his own teachers for changing his life for the better by helping him to gain confidence he otherwise would not have had.

Everyone Yellowknifer spoke to at the event said it was a great way to kick off the school year.

Turkey and all the trimmings, along with fresh fish, perogies and bannock were all on the menu. As usual, Yk1 superintendent Metro Huculak was the head chef.