150 years later the legacy of the Indian Act on Indigenous names lingers in many communities – CBC

Apr 15, 2026

Historian says naming ceremonies continued in secret under the nose of the Indian Agent

While Catholics from Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory were attending mass on Jan. 6 every year to mark Epiphany, others gathered to give their children traditional Anishinaabe names in secret.

Steven George, a historian and genealogist from Wiikwemkoong on Manitoulin Island, said his people were crafty.

“Around the early 1900s our ceremonies were outlawed, even the naming ceremony,” George said.

Read More: https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/indigenous-names-indian-act-9.7162952