It will be interesting to see how much support there is for the renaming of Banff’s Tunnel Mountain.
Tunnel Mountain, after all, is a mountain without a tunnel, was not named after someone named Tunnel and does not resemble a tunnel.
There will be those, of course, who will balk at the name change, as they balk at most change, but we rather favour the idea.
The idea of renaming a mountain is not new in these parts – think of the recent change to Ha Ling which looms over Canmore – and we feel suggesting a change to Sacred Buffalo Guardian Mountain, while it doesn’t easily roll off the tongue, would be in keeping with recognition of the area’s culture and Indigenous peoples’ tradition.
Looking further back, it should be noted that today’s Castle Mountain in Banff was formerly Mount Eisenhower.
There is always some resistance to changing historically accepted names, but it’s not like a change from Tunnel to Sacred Buffalo Guardian Mountain is just an offhand renaming to cater to a premier or prime minister or some other illuminary – it’s a name that already has historical significance.
Mind you, would a renaming stop at simply a new name for a mountain, or would Parks Canada the Town of Banff feel in incumbent to start changing Tunnel Mountain campgrounds, Tunnel Mountain Drive, etc.
We’ll see.
And, with so much focus on the Buffalo Treaty, re-introduction of bison into Banff, the American Bison Society conference and a proposal that bison be dubbed wildlife rather than livestock, maybe now is an appropriate time and era for the change.
Possibly, although it might be too little time to see a change of name come about, the switch from Tunnel Mountain to Sacred Buffalo Guardian Mountain could coincide with the reintroduction of the majestic animals in 2017 and celebrations of Canada’s 150th.
We’re not sure how many locations in Canada carry a buffalo/bison moniker – Wood Buffalo National Park comes to mind, as does Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, Buffalo Mountain, Buffalo River – but being that some of the bison which will be returning to Banff will carry the bloodlines of an original, miniscule herd of 86 that Banffites Howard Douglas and Norman Luxton, urged the Canadian government to purchase, carries extra weight when it comes to a name change.
Finally, possibly the fact that early Canadians slaughtered tens of millions of bison, pushing the species to the very brink of extinction, is reason enough to celebrate the introduction of the species into Canada’s flagship national park; and to rename a mountain in its honour, as well as to give a nod to our Indigenous peoples, for whom buffalo were an essential part of daily life for centuries.
Quote of the week
Sometimes, a certain quote really hits the nail on the head when it comes to a specific issue.
This week, we’ll offer a kudo to Y2Y’s Stephan Legault, who said (page 33), “These are our last decisions on this landscape. It is not a lot of space, there wasn’t a lot of space to start with, and there is much less today for wildlife to survive.”
Let’s all keep that in mind as dealings with the last parcels of land in Three Sisters Mountain Village are looked at, development-wise. These will be the last major decisions made in regard to most of the remaining land available in Canmore.
