How can we talk about decolonization when SFU is named after a colonizer?
by Marco Ovies, Features Editor  Content warning: mentions of anti-Indigenous stereotypes and violence against Indigenous peoples  Simon Fraser The Explorer was born in Mapletown, Hoosick County (modern-day so-called New York), and he lived from 1776 to 1862. In 1792, Fraser entered the fur trade with the North West Company (NWC)  which is a name you might recognize if you ever took a Canadian history class. After working his way up the ranks, the NWC asked Fraser to travel westward and find the Columbus River. Instead, Fraser stumbled upon what is now known as the Fraser River. During his two journeys on this river, Fraser documented his findings through journal entries and letters sent to his employers. While we dont have the original journal that he wrote in 1808 about his famous trip to the sea, we have a fair copy compiled by an unknown author of his journey. This has now been widely accepted as true BC history, due to Western knowledge valuing written accounts over Indigenous oral history. But if you actually read Frasers 1808 fair copy journal, it very clearly places Euro-American culture above that of Indigenous peoples. Fraser stated that the Indigenous peoples he met seemed rather stupid, and not much inclined to satisfy our desires. These Eurocentric assumptions play into the establishment of huge misunderstandings between settler-colonial and Indigenous relations that have only grown over the centuries. Indigenous peoples were quickly assigned the role of The Other in the racial order that placed Euro-American culture above others. While most Indigenous peoples were described as savage in his accounts, this was not the case for all. Some territories were described as plentiful where Indigenous people were hospitable and happy to see him. In other words, the places that were seen as safe and welcoming were really places that would not get in the way of colonization. Throughout his journal, there is little to no consideration of Indigenous territories, clearly shown by Fraser referring to the land he discovered as New Caledonia in honour of where his mother was born in Scotland. Just by giving this territory a European name, Fraser promoted a colonial narrative that ignores Indigenous rights and titles. By using Frasers biased 1808 fair copy journal, he is elevated to the status of a hero rather than a man sent to expand business operations. It doesnt help that Frasers name seems to appear everywhere in our modern age. The Fraser River, Fraser Lake, Fort Fraser, Simon Fraser Elementary, The Simon Fraser Bridge, and, of course, Simon Fraser University are all named after this colonizer. This just reinforces the idea that European expansion was a positive process and completely neglects the historical accounts of Indigenous peoples. Yet we still place these colonizers on a pedestal over and over again. We literally have a bust of Simon Fraser on a pedestal in New Westminster along the Fraser River. While it is known as the Fraser River, there were Indigenous peoples living along that water long before Fraser was even born. The river has also gone by many different names such as Lhta Koh (which means the confluence of many rivers in the Dakelh language) and the St:l (a Halqemylem word for river). It is only now known as the Fraser River because David Thompson, one of Frasers NWC colleagues, named it after him. These conversations seem empty to me when we are still looking up to these colonizers as heroes. Governments and institutions talk about decolonization in a reactionary way. With the discovery of the unmarked gravesites at the former Kamloops residential school, every institution is offering their apology as if they are surprised by Canadas violent history. But I already see the outrage and despair everyone was feeling start to dissipate as government officials let this fade into the background  just like the rest of Canadian history. Its time for us to really look around us and actively take efforts in decolonization. And maybe that should start with a name change.