N.L. government exploring restoring Churchill River's original Innu name

It was originally called Mishta-shipu — or "Grand River" — and it has a renaming history with more twists than the river itself.

The Mishta-shipu has a renaming history with more twists than the river itself

Andrew Hawthorn · CBC News · Posted: May 09, 2022 4:30 AM EDT | Last Updated: May 9, 2022

What is now known in many places as the Churchill River has had a long history of naming and renaming. (Tara McLean/CBC)

The Newfoundland and Labrador government is considering restoring the original Innu name of Labrador's Churchill River, although a prominent Innu leader says it has already happened.

In the House of Assembly on Wednesday, Perry Trimper, Independent MHA for Lake Melville, requested that the provincial government consider the change.

"In 1965, and to the consternation of those in Labrador, Joey Smallwood decided to name the longest river in Atlantic Canada after Winston Churchill. There was no consultation with the local people, particularly the Innu," Trimper said.

It wasn't the first time the river had been renamed. The river is called Mishta-shipu, or Grand River, by the Innu of the region. It had been renamed Hamilton River, for Newfoundland governor Sir Charles Hamilton, in 1821.

Premier Joseph Smallwood renamed it again in 1965 for recently deceased former British prime minister Winston Churchill, a move that drew criticism, as there was already a well-known Churchill River running through Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

Peter Penashue says Newfoundland and Labrador has already recognized the river's Innu name, Mishta-shipu, along with the English name Churchill Falls. (Bailey White/CBC)

Province already agreed in 2015: Penashue

However, a former Labrador MP and senior advisor on land claims for the Innu Nation, says the Newfoundland and Labrador government has already agreed to change the name, but has yet to follow through.

"Back in the 1990s, [the Innu Nation] had requested a table to start talking about name changes to rivers and lakes in Labrador. So all of that work was completed and was gazetted in 2015. So the name change has taken place," Penashue said.

Penashue said the province was supposed to put up signs on the river and its tributaries and record the dual English and Innu-aimun names, unless there was no English name in place, in which case only the Innu name would be considered official.

"For example," Penashue said, "the English name for Mishta-shipu is Churchill River, and the Innu name is Mishta-shipu."

"So the river itself, as raised by Mr. Trimper, has a dual name already."

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As Penashue suggested, the April 10, 2015, edition of the Newfoundland and Labrador Gazette states that Keith Hutchings, then minister of municipal and intergovernmental affairs, had approved the name change of around 425 rivers, lakes and geographical features in Labrador, including Mishta-shipu/Churchill River.

In most cases, only an Indigenous name is present, but in the case of an English name, both are recognized as official.

"If you go to the river itself now, there's no sign indicating that it's Mishta-shipu. So the province needs to do some work on that," Penashue said.

As far as dropping the Churchill name of the river altogether, Penashue said that had been the Innu Nation's argument for decades, but they were told the best they could get is a dual name.

In the meantime, in response to Trimper's request, Premier Andrew Furey expressed interest in restoring the Innu name but said it would depend on consultation with Innu leadership and other Indigenous groups in the region.