N-word - Edmonton, Canada
N-word - Edmonton, Canada
There are no official geographic sites in the immediate Edmonton area that currently retain the N-word in their names.
However, looking at the surrounding history of Alberta and Western Canada reveals a distinct regional picture regarding geographic naming and Black historical settlements:
1. Renaming of Alberta Sites
Across Canada, federal and provincial geographical names boards began systematically replacing racial slurs on maps in the mid-to-late 20th century.
In most cases across Alberta, derogatory names containing the N-word were officially removed or updated in the 1960s or earlier, usually sanitized initially to terms like "Negro" or changed entirely to honor local figures or geographic descriptors.
One example in northern Alberta (Peace River region) was historically known as "Nigger Hill"—named for a early Black resident—before the slur was discarded in local usage and documentation.
2. Historical Black Settlements near Edmonton
While Edmonton itself did not have geographic sites named with slurs, the region surrounding Edmonton is historically significant as the primary hub of early 20th-century Black immigration to Western Canada.
Between 1908 and 1912, over 1,000 African American homesteaders migrated to Alberta from Oklahoma and Kansas to escape Jim Crow laws. Rather than using pejorative names, the settlements they established near Edmonton were named by the homesteaders themselves or designated by local municipal names:
Amber Valley (near Athabasca, ~160 km north of Edmonton): The most famous Black pioneer settlement in Western Canada, originally called Pine Creek.
Wildwood / Junkins (~110 km west of Edmonton): One of the earliest agricultural settlements established by Black homesteaders in 1908.
Keystone / Breton (~100 km southwest of Edmonton): A thriving Black farming community established in 1911.
Campsie (~130 km northwest of Edmonton): Another major rural enclave settled by African American farming families.
3. Recent Alberta Naming Controversies
In recent years, the push around renaming physical features in Alberta has primarily focused on derogatory terms targeting Indigenous people rather than the N-word. For instance, in 2021, the Geographical Names Board of Alberta officially renamed a feature on Mount Charles Stewart in Kananaskis to remove an offensive term for Indigenous women (squaw), replacing it with the Stoney Nakoda name Anjc-wic'a.
Were The Sites Named with Slurs Black Settlements?
The sites were generally not incorporated, formal towns. Instead, they represented scattered agricultural communities, historical burial sites, and locations linked to specific historic events or individuals.
1. Underground Railroad Corridors
- The Niger River (Sherbrooke / Eastern Townships): Situated near the U.S. border, this river region saw a notable influx of Black Americans in the early 1800s. Many were freedom seekers escaping enslavement in the United States via the Underground Railroad, settling in small farmsteads along the riverways.
2. Burial Grounds of Enslaved People
- Rocher du Nègre / "Nigger Rock" (Saint-Armand): Located on a hill 50 kilometers south of Montreal, this site was used as a burial ground for enslaved Black individuals from roughly 1794 until the total abolition of slavery in the British Empire in 1833. Local historians long advocated for its preservation as one of the few surviving historical cemeteries for enslaved Africans in Quebec.
3. Individual Historic Incidents
- Nigger Rapids (Gatineau River): Named following a tragic drowning incident in 1912 involving an unnamed Black couple traveling through or living in the area. During the renaming movement, activists pushed to research and restore the couple's actual names to honor their memory.
4. Informal Descriptors across the Landscape
- Lac du Nègre, Ruisseau du Nègre, and Rivière du Nègre: Found across western Quebec, the Laurentians, and Drummondville, these names were often informal descriptors given by European-descended settlers to creeks, lakes, or hills where Black workers, loggers, or families lived and cleared land.
Preserving History While Removing Slurs
In early Canadian history, cartographers and local settlers routinely used racial descriptors to identify geographic features associated with non-white residents rather than recording their proper names.
The 2015 renaming decision aimed to correct this injustice—removing derogatory language from official maps while creating opportunities to honor the true contributions, individuals, and history of Black communities in Quebec.
The 11 sites in Quebec targeted by the Commission de toponymie du Québec in September 2015 were immediately "de-officialized" (stripped of their official status and removed from government maps).
The renaming process was designed to involve consultations with local municipalities, historians, and Black community representatives to choose meaningful replacements.
The 11 Former Site Names
Sites Containing the English Slur:
Nigger Rapids (Bouchette / Gatineau River) — Named for a Black couple who tragically drowned there in 1912.
Rocher Nigger / Nigger Rock (Saint-Armand) — A hill and burial ground site for enslaved Black people prior to abolition in 1833.
Three separate sets of rapids along the Red River (Laurentides region) — Historical logging/river-driving markers.
Niger River (Eastern Townships near Sherbrooke) — Historically spelled with two g's between 1986 and 2006; associated with freedom seekers arriving via the Underground Railroad.
Sites Containing the French Term (Nègre):
5. Lac du Nègre (Outaouais / Western Quebec)
6. Ruisseau du Nègre (Outaouais / Western Quebec)
7. Rivière du Nègre (Centre-du-Québec, near Drummondville)
8. Le Buttereau-du-Nègre (Îles-de-la-Madeleine)
9. Lac à Ti-Nègre (Shawinigan)
What Were They Renamed To?
Because provincial naming boards require thorough historical research, land survey checks, and municipal approvals for each feature, new names take significant time to adopt:
Lac à Ti-Nègre (Shawinigan) \rightarrow Lac Honoré-Gélinas
This was the first location formally given a permanent new official name. It was renamed after Honoré Gélinas, a local historical figure in the Saint-Jean-des-Piles area whose nickname (Ti-Nègre) had originally been used by locals due to his dark complexion. Replacing the nickname with his actual full name restored dignity while preserving the local historical connection.
Nigger Rapids (Gatineau River)
Activists, including petition leader Rachel Zellars, specifically advocated for the rapids to be named directly after the Black couple who died there in 1912 once archival research could verify their names, rather than replacing it with a generic geographical term.
Rocher Nigger / Nigger Rock (Saint-Armand)
Local historians and Black advocacy organizations pushed for names like Rocher des Esclaves (Slave Rock) or a formal memorial designation to ensure the site's history as an enslaved African burial ground would not be erased from historical memory when the slur was removed.
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