Mic Mac Mall doesn't plan to change name, which some Mi'kmaq call 'antiquated'

The Mic Mac Mall is spending $55 million on updating its food court and other renovations, but it won't be updating its name.

While other organizations have dropped the use of Micmac, an outdated mispronunciation of Mi'kmaq — the Indigenous people of Mi'kma'ki, which spans the Atlantic provinces, the Gaspé Peninsula and northern Maine — the mall is standing by its name.

Changing the name of the mall, located on Micmac Boulevard in Dartmouth, N.S.,   is not part of the renovation plan, Mic Mac Mall general manager Tamitha Oakley said Wednesday. In a statement Friday, the company that owns the mall, Ivanhoé Cambridge, said it looks forward to discussing the matter with Mi'kmaq groups.

The mall's name has always bothered Alan Syliboy a little bit.

Syliboy, a Mi'kmaq artist in Truro, doesn't find it offensive, but said it is outdated and disrespectful. He said they're saying the name incorrectly.

"If you're … introduced to someone and they don't get your name right, well, you correct them. And if you don't do that, it kind of sits, it lingers, you know?" said Syliboy. "I think that's what it is, is mutual respect."

Syliboy said it would be good for the mall's image to change the name. 

"It's an easy thing to do. And the world is changing. And what does that say, you know? We're not changing and everybody else is."

'It's an antiquated term'

Seeing the words Mic Mac Mall lit up leaves Rebecca Thomas sighing and rolling her eyes.

"You're saying our name wrong," said Thomas, a Mi'kmaq activist and former poet laureate of Halifax. "Please say it correctly or, you know, maybe don't say it at all."

Thomas said the mall, among other business such as Mic Mac Bar and Grill and Mic Mac Amateur Aquatic Club have an opportunity to be leaders in change and reconciliation and it's disappointing not to see them take that chance.

"It's asking to be respected. We're offering our hand in an opportunity to have a moment where we can learn and grow together, and we're having our hand kind of swatted away, saying, 'Well no, we want to keep it like this,' and so it's kind of frustrating."

Thomas said the use of the word "MicMac" is similar to sports teams using the words "Indians" and "redskins."

"It's antiquated.… It's like the word Indian. It's not an outright racial slur like the redskins, but it's an antiquated term that doesn't need to be used anymore because we have more proper words to use."

The restaurant, rowing club and mall were likely named after the nearby Lake Micmac, said Thomas. But they don't necessarily need to change their names to Mi'kmaq, she said.

Thomas suggested they could rename their businesses for other geographic names in their area, such as Waverley. She said it would be interesting to see the lake renamed to what the Mi'kmaq originally called it.

A spokesperson for the province said there are no plans to consider changing the name of Lake Micmac, but there is a process for residents to request a name change.

Provincial records show the lake was named Second Dartmouth Lake in 1921, and was changed to Micmac Lake 5 in 1922 and then became Lake Micmac in 1975.

Lake Micmac is the second lake in the Shubenacadie Canal chain of lakes that the Mi'kmaq used as a transportation route before the arrival of Europeans.

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