Former residential school principal's name being removed from B.C. city's street

A street is being renamed in Prince George, B.C., to remove the reference to a former residential school principal.

Council voted Monday to change O'Grady Road to Dakelh Ti, which means First Nation Road.

O'Grady was the principal at the Kamloops Residential School between 1939 and 1952. He later opened a college in Prince George.

Last year, the Lheidli T'enneh First Nation requested the city change the street's name after Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc announced the detection of what are believed to be more than 200 unmarked graves at the site of the former Kamloops school.

On Tuesday, the Lheidli T'enneh said it was pleased with city council's decision, saying it showed "great respect."

"The name change will also help reduce the ongoing trauma of our nation of residential schools that many Indigenous people feel on a day-to-day basis," Elder Darlene McIntosh said in a statement. 

"Residential school syndrome is very real, and many Indigenous people struggle with the impacts their parents and grandparents who attended residential schools experienced."

Meanwhile, a public feedback process is still underway at the University of British Columbia to determine whether O'Grady's honorary degree from the institution should be rescinded. Last month, a sub-committee recommended the degree be removed. The university's senate will make a final decision at a later date. 

The honorary doctors of law degree was granted to O'Grady in 1986, while he was the Catholic bishop of Prince George. A statement in UBC's online archives said O'Grady was granted the degree for his efforts "to make education more accessible to local communities in the Interior and to do so in a way which would bring the native and white communities closer together." The statement also said O'Grady "appreciated the role of education in the lives of people of this province."

At least six pupil deaths were recorded at the Kamloops Indian Residential School, while O'Grady was principal.

Making recommendations using a "balance of probabilities" standard of proof, the sub-committee determined "that it is more likely than not that O’Grady was aware of the deaths of some of those children and failed in his duty to protect them or to treat their deaths with dignity as the chief administrator of the residential school."

If you are a former residential school student in distress, or have been affected by the residential school system and need help, you can contact the 24-hour Indian Residential Schools Crisis Line at 1-866-925-4419, or the Indian Residential School Survivors Society toll free line at 1-800-721-0066.

Additional mental-health support and resources for Indigenous people are available here.