The route that was previously known as Dakelh Ti has new signs.
O’Grady Road is now officially known as Dakelh Ti, according to the sign. On Monday, the city’s road crews changed the street signs.
O’Grady Road was renamed in June 2022 after a request from Lheidli T’enneh Chief Dolleen Logan was granted by the council.
The road in the College Heights neighborhood bears Bishop John Fergus O’Grady’s name. Over the course of his career, he served as the principal of three residential schools, including the Kamloops Indian Residential School, where 215 children’s bones were discovered in unmarked graves.
At the time, Logan argued that the name should be changed since Bishop O’Grady, for whom O’Grady Road is called, was a crucial figure in the management of British Columbia’s residential schools during the time that children were killed and mistreated.
The new name, which translates as First Nation Road, was chosen by the Lheidli T’enneh. The name honors the Dakelh people, who went to the O’Grady Road school, as well as residential schools in general.
“Dack-elth tee” is how you pronounce Dakelh Ti. Examples of the proper pronunciation of “Dakelh Ti” can be found online in the Lheidli Dakelh dictionary.
