By Eric Coffin, Wabanaki Zone President (eric.coffin@skipatrol.ca)
Members have approved a merger of the two zones in New Brunswick, Fundy Zone and North Border Zone. The creation of the new zone means a new name with a powerful meaning: Wabanaki.
A competition was held to determine a new name. The process started with asking members within the combined zones to submit suggestions for a cool new name. The name needed to represent New Brunswick as a whole and take into account it is a bilingual province. Members were asked to give a brief explanation of the meaning of the proposed name that was submitted.
There were all kinds of interesting names submitted, from River and Valley Zone, to Fiddlehead Zone. The names were reviewed by patrol Leaders within the zone and there were two names that were selected: New Brunswick Zone and Wabanaki Zone.
There were multiple submissions for New Brunswick Zone as it is where the zone is located. It is easy to say and very identifiable if someone is wondering where we are from.
The other submission was Wabanaki Zone, from a group of patrollers in the Mont Farlagne Ski Patrol. The group of patrollers consulted the local Aboriginal council in Edmundston to find a name that could be used that would encompass all aboriginal groups within New Brunswick with a ski area nearby. The council came back with Wabanaki, which includes the Miꞌkmaq, Maliseet (Wolastoqey), Passamaquoddy (Peskotomahkati) and Penobscot. Wabanaki means a group of nations that all came together to form a confederacy. Their basis was to ensure that their goods were taken care of. They believe that this would be a good way for the CSP and our zone to recognize the fact that our hills are on unceded territories.
The next task was to have members vote on the two names. An election was held with 63 members casting their votes. It was a super-close race, with Wabanaki being selected the new name for the zone. The board of directors approved the new name and we have officially become Wabanaki Zone.
The name was appropriate for the new zone as well. The meaning of Wabanaki is a group of nations that all came together to form a confederacy, similar to the ski areas in New Brunswick coming together to form one zone.
The patrol group from Mont Farlagne advised Chief Patricia Bernard of the Madawaska Malisett First Nation. Additionally, a letter was sent out to Indigenous communities within New Brunswick to advise them of what happened. We are hoping that our gesture, as little as it may seem, goes a long way. I know one of our patroller’s significant other is Indigenous and when she found out that we had done this she got emotional. She said that it meant a lot to her that we would consider doing such an act.
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