Mary Papatsie, an Inuk woman whose remains were found in Ottawa in 2022, was buried in her home community of Pangnirtung in 2023. Ottawa Coun. Stéphanie Plante wants to rename a park near where Papatsie was found in her honour. (File photo courtesy of the Papatsie family)
Efforts underway to rename Ottawa park for Mary Papatsie
City councillor proposes renaming Emond Park for Inuk woman who went missing from area in 2017
An Ottawa city councillor is kick-starting efforts to rename a local park for an Inuk woman whose remains were found in the city two years ago.
Rideau-Vanier Coun. Stéphanie Plante has proposed changing the name of Emond Park to Mary Papatsie Park, in honour of the mother of 10 who went missing from the area in April 2017 when she was 39 years old.
In September 2022, Papatsie’s remains were unearthed at a nearby construction site. Her death is being investigated as a homicide by Ottawa Police Service.
Papatsie was buried in her home community of Pangnirtung in 2023.
Plante, who also helped spearhead the renaming of Ottawa’s Sandy Hill Park to Annie Pootoogook Park in 2021, said she has wanted to propose naming a park for Papatsie for several months.
She was prompted to do so recently after learning about some residents’ resistance to a proposed Inuit women’s shelter in the city’s Hunt Club neighbourhood.
Ottawa Coun. Stéphanie Plante is proposing renaming Emond Park in the Rideau-Vanier ward after Mary Papatsie, to commemorate the Inuk woman whose remains were found at a nearby construction site in September 2022. (File photo by Jeff Pelletier)
“I decided now’s a good time because there’s some awareness around the housing situation, there’s some awareness of the precarity of Inuit women,” Plante said.
She noted that National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, also known as Red Dress Day, is May 5.
The park initiative is still in the early stages. Plante canvassed door-to-door on the weekend to garner support from residents and prepared some administrative work behind the scenes, including background searches of other park names in Ontario.
“You send the name to our park services [department], and they just look over existing names of streets, parks, arenas and rinks, just to make sure there’s no doubling up. That’s extremely important for ambulance services,” Plante explained.
Emond Street would retain its name. The small neighbourhood park has benches, trees and greenery, as well as a picnic area and a children’s play structure.
Plante said she’s also spoken over the past several months with Papatsie’s family, who support the idea of honouring Mary Papatsie with a park name. Plante has also consulted various Inuit community members and organizations in Ottawa.
There’s still a long way to go before the park can be renamed.
To start, Ottawa’s current commemorative naming policies require nominees to be someone who has “demonstrated excellence, courage, or exceptional service” to the city, province or country, “have an extraordinary community service record,” have made a significant financial contribution to a city facility or be “historically significant.”
Naming parks cannot be used as a way to commemorate an individual’s death, the policy states.
As it stands now, Papatsie doesn’t fit the criteria, Plante said.
“It’s like they [have to have] donated large sums of money, they cured cancer, they were in politics forever. They’re these really kind of white, male-centric views on naming,” Plante said.
Ottawa is currently reviewing its commemorative naming program and will present a new policy in June.
Ottawa Coun. Stéphanie Plante wants to rename Emond Park for Mary Papatsie, an Inuk woman who went missing from the area in April 2017 and whose remains were discovered at a nearby construction site in September 2022. (Image from Google Street View)
Depending on what changes are made to the criteria, Papatsie may qualify then.
If she still doesn’t qualify, Plante said she will make a motion at city council to get the name change approved once the public consultation process for the new policy ends May 31.
“The stuff in my inbox is all very positive. People have wonderful memories of her,” Plante said of the community feedback she’s received so far on the project.
“I’ve heard so many stories now about how she liked to hang out in that park, how she kind of took control over the herb garden and she was really fond of the garden.”
Plante said she envisions the park as a place that could help honour missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in the city.
“Mary had a life that is worth celebrating,” she said. “She had a life that is worth remembering.”
White liberal women want to be remembered as the “good white people” (not the white male centric, blah, blah whatever) are fired up and at it again.
Dont be so biased in your opinions. This woman has helped in recognizing indigenous Inuit woman are dying and at times are unsolved based mainly because of the color of their skin. This has been proven time and time again. This lady is helping recognize that fact in ensuring that these parks are in remembrance of this. What have you done lately in advocating for Inuit other than shaming someone who is sincere in doing something like this?
Anyone know what’s going on with Amazon these days and all the orders getting sent back????
It’s sad what happened to this lady, but Ottawa doesn’t need to name any more parks after deceased Inuit who had tragic, early deaths. Maybe her friends could fundraise for a commemorative park bench or tree planted in her honour, that is what people in Ottawa do to remember someone who has passed away. That would be a really nice gesture.
It’s also sad to see the knee-jerk racism and sexism against “white males”. This councillor must not have noticed that there are people of both sexes and all races who would meet the very reasonable criteria for the commemorative naming program.
In psychology, a savior complex is an attitude and demeanor in which a person believes they are responsible for assisting other people. A person with a savior complex will often experience empathic episodes and commit to impulsive decisions such as volunteering, donating, or advocating for a cause.
The irony is…… if anyone needed a saviour , it was Mary.
Perhaps this is empathy you’re witnessing.
Thank you for postings this information. I had not ever heard of this before.
I was shocked to find out that demonstrating excellence, courage, or exceptional service to the city, province or country and having an extraordinary community service record are white, male-centric attributes.
And here I thought that any type of person, regardless of race or gender, was capable of those things.
Interesting that no news agencies actually report on who Emond was, and what their contributions were that had the street and park named after them.
I’m going to go ahead and say it. Why does she deserve a park in her name?
I’ve not seen or heard of any good causes she did during her lifetime. Idk what she did in Ottawa to deserve a park named after her. Let alone small time nunavut.
I am going to go ahead and say this: Ambrose; why are you so uncaring?
I like to ask you why the following places deserve to keep their names:
– The community is called Ikpiarjuk by the Inuit, which means “bag” or “pocket” due to its sheltered location. The English name is Arctic Bay, named after the whaling ship Arctic, which visited the site in 1872.
– Cambridge Bay, named after Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge.
– Gjoa Haven, named by Roald Amundsen after his ship Gjøa, from the Norwegian Gjøahavn, which means “Gjøa’s Harbour”.
– Grise Fiord, located just north of the community, which means “pig inlet” in Norwegian. It was named by Otto Sverdrup during an expedition around 1900 because he thought walruses in the area sounded like pigs.
– Resolute Bay, named after the HMS Resolute, a British ship that searched for the lost Franklin expedition.
– Pond Inlet, named after John Pond, the Astronomer Royal at the time, by John Ross, a British explorer, in 1818.
– Chesterfield Inlet, named after the fourth Earl of Chesterfield, who served as Secretary of State for England from 1746-1748.
– Rankin Inlet, named after Lt. John Rankin of the British Royal Navy, by Europeans who first visited the inlet in the early 1600s.
– Baker Lake, named after company governor Sir William Baker by the Hudson’s Bay Company, which sailed up Chesterfield Inlet to reach the lake.
– Coral Harbour, named after the pink fossilized coral found in the water near town.
Change them if you want, but these are entirely different questions
There have been a few communities who have made the official switch to the traditional name. It is a pretty easy process and I suspect there will be more in the coming years. It’s up to the community to make that decision and push the process.
These names totally should be replaced by their traditional names and I think this is an ongoing process. However noticed a trend? At that time, these (coincidentally) men had achieved something. It was probably appropriate during that time anyways. Mary did not deserve to die the way she did. It was unfortunate but to dedicate an entire park in her honour is a bit much. A memorial bench or a tree planted by the family would be more appropriate. Imagine in 500 years from now, that generation questioning, why is this park named “Mary Papatsie Park”?
This is just another publicity stunt by Rideau-Vanier Coun. Stéphanie Plante. As she states: “I decided now’s a good time because there’s some awareness around the housing situation, there’s some awareness of the precarity of Inuit women,” Using the death of a(n) Inuk woman just to receive pats on the back and votes. Shame on her.
Completely unrelated to the topic at hand, but okay.
Alot Inuit died down there. How come they never got recognition too?
Not in my backyard!!
Long before French explorer Samuel de Champlain arrived in what is now Ottawa in the early 1600s, Indigenous Peoples had already been living, meeting, and trading in the area for thousands of years. The Algonquins named the region “Odawa,” which means “traders” – the word from which Ottawa is derived. Indigenous Peoples even taught the Europeans essential skills such as how to navigate the mighty Ottawa River and survive the cold winter season.
Do you know what “Algonquin” means? “Algonquin” was the French name for the tribe. The French were likely trying to pronounce “elehgumoqik,” the Maliseet word for “our allies,” or “Algoomaking,” a Mi’kmaq place name. The Algonquins call themselves Anishnabe, which means “original person.” (The plural is Anishnabek.) However, Algonquins use Anishnabek to refer to other natives. So when they are specifically referring to their tribe, they usually use “Algonquins” or “Algonkins” to distinguish themselves.
Where do the Algonquins live? The Algonquins are the original inhabitants of the southeastern region of Canada. Today, they live in nine communities in Quebec and one in Ontario.
Name the park after Jim Sinclair? Jim championed Treaty and Aboriginal rights of Indigenous peoples for over 50 years and left an indelible mark on the international stage that will be felt for generations to come. As a founding member of both the Native Council of Canada and the Metis National Council and past President of the Association of Metis and Non-Status Indians of Saskatchewan (AMNSIS), Jim’s passion and commitment to equal justice for his people will live on forever. His great oratory ability moved people and governments to deal with Aboriginal people’s immediate needs and rights. His work led to the creation of many institutions, including the Gabriel Dumont Institute, the Saskatchewan Native Economic Development Corporation, Metis Addictions Council, Urban Native Housing Corporation, and Provincial Metis Housing Corporation. In 1982, he was one of the prominent leaders who successfully lobbied to have the Métis included in the Canadian Constitution. Widely recognized for his work, Jim received numerous awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Canadian Senate, the Metis Women of Saskatchewan, the Metis National Council, and the National Aboriginal Achievement Awards. Recently, the FSIN Assembly of Chiefs honored Jim for his hard, dedicated work protecting Treaty Rights. Jim would also take his Treaty and Aboriginal Rights stand around the world, speaking at the European Parliament. He was personally invited by the Prime Minister of Australia to speak on Indigenous rights and held a private audience with Pope John Paul II on four occasions to discuss Aboriginal rights and issues.
That’s such a white, male-centric views on naming.
I suggested that a park in the Ottawa region should be named after Jim Sinclair, a First Nations leader who fought for his people’s rights. It may be beneficial for you to read up on the history of Ottawa, including how it got its name, and to learn more about other First Nations leaders who fought for their rights with the Canadian Government. It’s important to understand that Inuit were not and are not the only indigenous group with leaders who fought for their rights.
To Name Withheld, and others that did not understand, I was very much being sarcastic in my reply, referencing the remark by Stéphanie Plante in the article that naming based on merit is white and male-centric. I think Jim Sinclair would be a great person to name a park after.
I am one of the brothers of Mary, or Scary Mary….Never really cared what happened to her for good reasons..anirqpanamii….old Inuit saying….naming a park after her is like seeing a Mary head on the wall but on a park… they seems to be proud of their kill…a sign to Inuit that we Inuit are to be a trophy subjects…think or say what you want… Ottawa is guilty enough to want to do the naming and not funded enough..undermining under the table.. sad to say….