Regina council votes unanimously to rename Dewdney Pool to ‘Buffalo Meadows Pool’

Regina city council voted unanimously to rename Dewdney Pool“Buffalo Meadows Pool.”

Dewdney Pool was named after Edgar Dewdney who the Indian Commissioner of the North West Territories in the late 19th century, which included Saskatchewan, Alberta and parts of B.C.

His policies included withholding rations from Indigenous People to force them to settle on reserves.

Dewdney chose Regina as the region’s capital in 1882 before Saskatchewan was a province.

Advocates groups, such as the Decolonizing Relations, are still pushing for the renaming of Dewdney Avenue and Park, claiming the namesake represents a controversial historical figure.

“I am pleased to see that council approved the renaming of Dewdney Pool to Buffalo Meadows Pool,” said Florence Stratton, who’s involved with Decolonizing Relations.

“I am very disappointed that the renaming did not extend to Dewdney Park and particularly to Dewdney Avenue.”

She said it was important to recognize Dewdney’s policies and the impact they had on the Indigenous.

“Regina sits on stolen land that was given to racists and genocidal policies,” Stratton said.

1:39 Local group pressuring City of Regina to rename Dewdney Avenue, park

“I think we all need to stand up and say, no, this is wrong. I think settlers have to join with Indigenous people and say we’ve got to fix some of these things as soon as possible.”

First suggested in 2017, Decolonizing Relations is hoping to see Dewdney replaced with Buffalo — Buffalo Avenue and Buffalo Park.

The city is in the process of putting together a report for council.