Historic but ‘offensive’ name will remain on Oakville School

An Oakville high school will keep its name.

Halton District School Board (HDSB) trustees have decided that Iroquois Ridge High School will remain at the school on Glenashton Drive. The decision was made after months of debate and consultation over whether the name was offensive to the Indigenous community.

Last March, board staff told the trustees the change must be made following a complaint that the name “Iroquois” was now considered offensive.

The complainant point out that “Iroquois” was a colonial settler term for the Haudenesaunee and is seen as derogatory and not respectful of Indigenous people.

The school is located in the Oakville neighbourhood known as Iroquois Ridge located east of Trafalgar Road between Dundas Street and Upper Middle Road. There is also an Iroquois Ridge Recreation Centre, which the Town of Oakville operates. The school has been in existence since 1994.

However, in April the board rescinded the decision and chose to continue to study the issue after pushback from both the school and Indigenous communities who disagreed with the lone assessment of the one complainant.

Those who were against the change argued the Iroquois name had been used in North America for hundreds of years and was an acceptable term used in Indigenous culture.

This week the board, following consultations with Indigenous leaders, decided there was no consensus to support a permanent name change.

Some trustees said they still believed the name to be offensive, but there was no compelling reason to change. Other trustees have said the initial decision to rename the school came as a kneejerk reaction to a single complaint and that a more efficient process should have been followed.

Trustees also decided that the HDSB website be updated to include the history of the school’s name.