Amelia Schafer
ICT
For a tribe forcibly removed from its homelands, the striking of an Indigenous name from one of the five Great Lakes further erases its history, Wyandotte Nation Chairman Billy Friend told ICT Friday.
“This isn’t political, it’s about history,” Friend said. “It’s about respecting an Indigenous name and the people whose language gave that name to the lake.”
Now located in Oklahoma and Quebec, leaders from the Wyandotte Nation and Wendat Nations said they were deeply offended by President Donald Trump’s executive order Thursday renaming Lake Ontario “Lake America.”
“This is kind of, more or less, a slap in the face to us,” Friend said.
“President Trump is attempting to eradicate our history,” said Piere Picard, Grand Chief of the Wendat Nation in a statement. “[I am] Outraged, appalled, shocked: there are no other words to describe how I feel following President Trump’s decision to rename Lake Ontario ‘Lake America.’”
Tribes were not notified of the intention to change the lake’s name, Friend said.
“I actually just thought it was a joke,” Friend said. “[So] I immediately pull it up on my news feed, and sure enough, find out that it’s there. I was really caught off guard by it as anybody would be. I thought it was very disrespectful, very offensive to us.”
While the entire situation is unprecedented, Friend said typically in an ideal situation the Department of the Interior would reach out to tribal leaders and consult them regarding a name change.
“It’s disappointing that Doug Burgum, the Secretary of Interior, was a part of this process,” Friend said. “We feel like the Department of Interior should have reached out to tribes who have a connection up in that area, not only the Wyandotte, but the Haudenosaunee people as well, the Seneca Nation and other tribes, the Mohawks, that all have connections to that region. There should have been meaningful consultation before this ever took place.”
The name Ontario comes from the Wendat language, a sister of the Wyandotte language all under the Iroquoian language family. The actual work, Ontari’io, translates roughly to large lake or beautiful lake in Wendat, Friend explained. The Wendat language is used by the Wendat Nation in Quebec, whose leaders expressed similar feelings towards the change.
Historical documents show the lake being named Ontario as early as 1600, predating the creation of the United States and Canada.
Wendat Grand Chief Picard called the name change a “direct blow to the very heart of our Wendat identity.”
The U.S. Consul General in Quebec City confirmed to Picard that the U.S. Ambassador to Canada will meet with him in the coming days, he said. Additionally, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney reportedly informed Picard that the lake will never be renamed in Canada.
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew, Ojibwe from the Onigaming First Nation, criticized Trump and the decision.
“He thought he had a real hit, a real golden oldie with the Gulf of Mexico, and he’s trying to bring back that,” Kinew said at a press conference. “He’s trying to play the hits for his base, but I think everybody here thinks it’s a little sad and it’s not his best work.”
Kinew then echoed Carney’s statement, saying the lake will always be referred to as Lake Ontario.
“We were once here, this was once our homeland, and it’s an opportunity for us to remind people that, even though we’ve been removed, we’re still here,” Friend said. “We’re still a thriving nation.”
Friend said the Wyandotte Nation plans to send a letter to Burgum regarding the name change.
“You know, at this point, I don’t think it would do any good to send anything to the president,” Friend said. “He’s shown himself to be someone that doesn’t have much respect for Indian tribes.”
The Wyandotte and Wendat’s ancestral homelands include Lake Ontario. The tribes are originally from the eastern great lakes region.
“When a tribe is removed, sometimes we’re forgotten,” Friend said. “The Wyandotte
Nation, even though we’re not there, we’re still thriving today. Think about history, it’s not for us to like or dislike, it’s for us to learn from.”
Trump’s announcement came amidst an ongoing trade war with Canada.
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