Adding Indigenous name to controversial PEI site an ‘insult’: Mi’kmaq leader
CHARLOTTETOWN — A member of the Mi’kmaq Nation traditional government says adding an Indigenous name to a Prince Edward Island historic site that bears the name of a controversial British general is a “grave insult” to his people.
John Joe Sark said he is unsatisfied with Parks Canada’s recent decision to add the Mi’kmaq name “skmaqn” to the Port-la-Joye–Fort Amherst National Historic Site, which is near Charlottetown.
Catherine McKenna, the federal minister responsible for Parks Canada, issued a statement on Friday confirming the official name of the site will now be Skmaqn–Port-la-Joye–Fort Amherst National Historic Site of Canada.
Sark said putting a Mi’kmaq name alongside that of General Jeffrey Amherst is “demeaning” given his contention that the British military commander tried to wipe out the Mi’kmaq by giving them smallpox-infected blankets.