The regional chief for the Assembly of First Nations in Alberta and the chief of the Enoch Cree First Nation agree that renaming Edmonton鈥檚 CFL team is a step in the right direction towards reconciliation.聽
鈥淚t鈥檚 a small gesture, but within the bigger picture reconciliation is a never-ending road. It might be cliche, but you take it one day at a time,鈥� says Enoch Cree Chief Billy Morin.聽
On June 1, the team unveiled its new Edmonton Elks branding, 10 months after the team agreed to change its name from the Eskimos 鈥� a racial slur against Inuit peoples.聽
鈥淚t should have happened a long time ago, but hindsight鈥檚 always easy,鈥� says Morin, who gave credit to the franchise for making the right call after a decade of debate.聽
AFN Regional Chief Marlene Poitras says this small goodwill gesture pales in comparison to the horrific discovery of the remains of 215 Indigenous children on the site of a former residential school in Kamloops, B.C., but is nonetheless part of a broader cultural shift towards taking Indigenous peoples鈥� concerns seriously.聽
She agrees it should鈥檝e happened sooner, but is likewise pleased that the name is changed, which she pointed out was relatively easy, since the team didn鈥檛 have to change the acronym on their logos. 鈥淚t鈥檚 way overdue. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission released a report about 10 years ago and now things are finally starting to happen,鈥� Poitras said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 about time.鈥澛�
Morin says he didn鈥檛 play a significant role in having the name changed beyond 鈥済eneral conversations鈥� with the franchise鈥檚 former CEO, crediting Inuit organizations for their advocacy. 鈥淭hey were engaging with Inuit communities and I thank them for keeping the dialogue open and working with communities to reach an ultimate solution,鈥� he said.聽
The new name reflects the diversity of the team鈥檚 fanbase, says Morin, who reflected back to when the Grey Cup was in Edmonton and he was invited to say a land acknowledgement before the singing of O Canada. 鈥淎 lot of small things, ultimately when you reflect back, they add up and can lead to bigger things collectively,鈥� he said, calling the name change a 鈥渕ilestone鈥�.聽
鈥淚鈥檓 glad reconciliation played a role in that and I do wish them well going forward. I鈥檓 actually a big Elks fan. I鈥檝e got to get used to saying that name myself 鈥� My dad used to take me to games.鈥澛�
Poitras says the name change could only broaden the team鈥檚 following in the region. 鈥淭hey鈥檒l continue to maintain their fans and continue to get some new ones because of their reconciliation efforts,鈥� she said.聽
鈥淭here鈥檚 so much work we need to do to eliminate systemic racism and if more organizations or people took small steps, it would certainly be a lot more meaningful for Indigenous people everywhere.鈥澛�
Elks CEO Chris Presson acknowledged that the change 鈥渨as probably a few years overdue, to be honest.鈥澛�
鈥淏ut I鈥檓 glad that we鈥檙e where we are now,鈥� Presson said. 鈥淣o doubt we made the right decision.鈥�
As recently as February 2020, the team said they would keep the Eskimos name after the results of a year-long consultation process were inconclusive, but reversed its position several months later due to a backlash from sponsors, such as insurance provider Belairdirect.聽
鈥淢an, it鈥檚 been a whirlwind,鈥� Presson told TSN. 鈥淲e wanted to make sure we got it right, we wanted to make sure we did the proper research and we wanted to make sure we created something that was special, and we have.
鈥淲hen you look at the history of the Edmonton Football Team and the CFL itself, there鈥檚 a lot there to see. To know you are a part of that and you had a chance to make an impact like this, it鈥檚 pretty special.鈥�
Elks was one of seven finalists for the new name, all of which started with the letter 鈥楨鈥� 鈥� 聽Evergreens, Evergolds, Eclipse, Elkhounds, Eagles and Elements.
The original option was to call the team the 鈥楨lk鈥�, but upon consultation with linguists at the University of Alberta and the Oxford Dictionary, they determined 鈥楨lks鈥� would be more appropriate.聽
The new name 鈥渞eflects the speed, strength and resilience of the Green and Gold and Northern Alberta,鈥� reads a statement from the organization.聽
After the 2020 season was cancelled due to COVID, the CFL plans to be back in action this year for a 14-game season starting Aug. 5.
