Crystal Smith fought hard for the B.C. Supreme Court to recognize ugwals K’ala’ask Shaw’s name
After fighting for 13 months, ugwals K’ala’ask Shaw’s parents finally got a birth certificate with the correct spelling of his name.
It’s a win for Crystal Smith and her partner Raymond Shaw, who wanted the Kwakwala characters in their baby son’s name to be recognized by British Columbia’s Vital Statistics Agency.
According to the provincial Ministry of Health, “going forward, all Indigenous people, no matter what age, will be able to claim names” on birth certificates.
Smith says it’s the start of what she hopes will be a bigger movement of recognition. With more than 34 languages and 90 dialects, British Columbia has the most Indigenous languages of any state in the country.
Smith, who is Ts’ymsen and Haisla, says that the name ugwals K’ala’ask Shaw means “the place where people are blessed” and comes from a story about how Shaw’s people, the Wei Wai Kum First Nation, came to be.
Smith said, “There were four brothers who went hunting, and they went to Loughborough Inlet.”
“The younger brother saw a mountain goat with one horn. The mountain goat didn’t fall when he shot at it. He followed it until it led him to a cave, where he found a man. He was an angel or a spirit. The older brother ended up staying there for four days, and on the fourth day, the mountain goat told him he was going to give him gifts.
Smith says that ugwals is the name of the mountain in the story, as well as the name the older brother was given for bringing gifts down from the mountain. The name is Kwakwakawakw, and it is written with phonetic symbols made by people who keep the Kwakwala language alive.
Smith says that the birth certificate made it harder to get health care
When Smith and Shaw registered their son’s birth, the Vital Statistics office refused to accept the name, saying it would only accept names with Latin letters, apostrophes, hyphens, periods, and French accents.
In 2022, the parents went to the B.C. Supreme Court and said that the agency’s rules for naming children violated their constitutional rights.
“The people who speak Kwak’wala worked very hard to make this written language, and to change it because Vital Stats didn’t agree with it or recognize it felt rude,” Smith said.
Now that 14-month-old ugwals K’ala’ask Shaw has a birth certificate, his mother, Smith, says she doesn’t have to worry about getting him health care.
She said that at every doctor’s appointment after her son was born, he was only known as “Baby Boy Shaw.” Smith had to explain the situation every time he went to the doctor after giving birth and when he went to the emergency room because he had COVID-19.
She said that the hospital charged her for his birth because he didn’t get a birth certificate.
“With all the harm Canada has done to Indigenous people, and because of that harm we were able to come up with a written language, they [Vital Statistics] should be keeping that,” says Smith.
The case is still being heard in the B.C. courts. Smith says that Vital Statistics has six months to change their policies in exchange for putting off hearings that were already planned.
In a statement, the provincial Ministry of Health says that every Indigenous person in the province should be able to have their name written correctly on their ID or birth certificate.
“Parents can register Indigenous names with a diacritical mark on a birth certificate with Vital Statistics. But they have to sign a waiver to show that they know this could make it hard for them to sign up for government services, the statement said.
“The waiver was given to this family, and from now on, all Indigenous people, not just new parents but also older people, will be able to claim their names.”
Vital Statistics wants to use a font that everyone can read
Vital Statistics says it is committed to putting the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People into action and bringing Indigenous languages back to life in B.C.
In its statement, the agency says that one of these actions is to adopt a digital font that will allow Indigenous languages to be used in official documents. The statement does not say when this will happen or what symbols will be recognized.
Smith says it’s a good thing to have her son’s birth certificate, but she won’t be happy until every Indigenous parent has a chance to have their child’s name written correctly.
“This was for all Indigenous mothers who want to name their children in their language and have their language respected,” she said.
She hopes that the name of her son will be the “ember” that starts a fire that leads to big changes that respect Indigenous languages.
She says that confirming her son’s name is not a step in the right direction because it should have been done a long time ago.
She said, “I don’t want Vital Statistics to pat themselves on the back for reconciliation.”
Smith and her family need to apply for her son’s passport as the next step. Smith says she can’t wait to take her son on canoe trips across borders with her.
Smith went to the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal in 2018 after her landlord kicked her out because she held smudging ceremonies. The judge sided with her, and the landlord was told to pay her $23,000 in damages.
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