Why there's a street in Canada that no one can pronounce
Unless you're looking for a specific place, you probably don't pay much attention to street names. Yet our lives would be much more difficult without street names.
Visiting friends in another city for the first time? It's not that easy when all you know is, "I live in the white house with the big tree in front of it." Ordering something online and having it delivered? Essentially impossible if the delivery service doesn't know where to send it.
Street names often have a deeper meaning. They frequently honor specific people or commemorate important events. Names also disappear from time to time, for example, when the honor is no longer justified from today's perspective.
This was also the case in Vancouver, Canada . In the metropolis on the west coast of southern British Columbia, Trutch Street was named after Joseph Trutch – a governor appointed by the British Empire in 1871. Trutch was a racist who despised the First Nations, the indigenous peoples of Canada, and took away their rights and land. He was not someone a city should name a street after.
And so it came to pass that the people who previously lived on Trutch Street now have trouble pronouncing their street name. It is now šxʷməθkʷəy̓əmasəm Street.
The letters come from the North American Phonetic Alphabet and are part of the language spoken by the Musqueam, an indigenous people from the region. According to the city, there is no one left in Vancouver who speaks the language fluently.
And yet: "Renaming the street is an important act of reconciliation, and the city is working closely with the Musqueam to ensure this work is carried out with respect, cooperation, and care," Vancouver explains. You can learn how to pronounce the street name correctly on the city's website .
An initial request for a name change was submitted in 2012, and in 2021, the City of Vancouver decided to change the name. Now, the time has finally come. "It's a great feeling to actually see the name change, regardless of the political issue, just to see our language present in the public sphere where people live," said Larry Grant, Musqueam Elder.
However, since some online systems, such as the Canadian Post Office, aren't yet able to process non-Latin letters, the street has also been given a second name. Musqueamview Street can be used as an address anywhere where non-Latin letters don't work.
This is intended to make things easier for residents, which brings us back to everyday things like online retailers. But the safety aspect also plays a role. The fire department and emergency services had expressed concerns that someone in distress would otherwise be unable to tell where they were.
There will also be an information board on the street about the new name, with an opportunity to listen to the correct pronunciation. It will also explain the reason for the renaming.
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