Renaming Ryerson to TMU

In 2020, Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University) implemented the Standing Strong (Mash Koh Wee Kah Pooh Win) Task Force. The task force was created to develop principles to guide commemoration at the university and to respond to the history and legacy of the institution’s former namesake, Egerton Ryerson, and his contributions to Canada’s Residential School system.

The Task Force put forth 22 official recommendations, including that the university change its colonial commemorative name. On June 6, 2021, the on-campus statue of Egerton Ryerson was torn down after a protest in response to the discovery of the physical remains of over 215 residential school victims in Kamloops, British Columbia. This brought additional public attention to the issue of changing the university’s name.

Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) is the first post-secondary institution in North America to change its name to address colonial history. Name changes have been criticized as efforts to “erase history”, but these criticisms fail to recognize that the colonial trauma done to Indigenous people are engrained in these communities. The renaming is in line with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Call to Action 79, which calls for the integration of Indigenous history, heritage values, and memory practices into Canada’s national heritage and history.

TMU’s Indigenous Student Services, Indigenous Student Lounge, Indigenous Education Council (IEC), and other initiatives are created with the intention to support, encourage, and preserve traditional culture among First Nations, Inuit and Métis students. This includes adhering to TRC Calls to Action 13-17 regarding Indigenous language rights.

Hear from TMU Urban Agriculture student Allan Jamieson (Cayuga, Six Nations of the Grand River) about the importance of removing colonial commemorations. Allan  grew up learning from Native peoples on both sides of the Niagara River. After years of learning to sing, dance, language, and history, the importance of planting and farming became clear to Allan. He believes that concepts such as the Calls to Action by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, along with the United Nations Declaration of Indigenous peoples, can be put into action in a garden, and that working the land is a way of reconnecting to the original ways for all people.

Listen to three traditional songs by Allan Jamieson from the Cuyuga Nation of Six Nations of the Grand River. The first song is for an extinct bird, the passenger, which would cover the sky day to night. The second is a women’s dance song to honour all women energies and the sky women who created the earth. The third is a friendship song (with English), expressing that perhaps communities may never see those children who were taken away or their loved ones.