Name change proposed for Snowdon Park

Shirley Horn, Irene Barbeau and Ken Crossman will be at Monday's city council meeting as part of a Children of Shingwauk Alumni Association delegation seeking a new name for Snowdon Park.

In June of last year, the city confirmed a letter of apology to Crossman for the 1960 drowning death of his brother Gerald there.

The city agreed at that time to work with the Children of Shingwauk to develop plans for a memorial acknowledging three drowning deaths at the park on Florwin Drive near the former residential school.

The proposed new name for the east-end venue is Memorial Park.

The following is the full text of a written request sent to the city last fall:

Request to change the name of Snowdon Park to Memorial Park

September 16, 2022

Dear Mayor and council:

I write today to ask, on behalf of the Children of Shingwauk Alumni Association, Ken Crossman, and the Crossman family, to make a submission for the public record before mayor and council requesting that the name of the city-owned property now known as Snowdon Park be changed to Memorial Park.

Mayor and council are aware of the tragic history of Snowdon Park, specifically the deaths of four boys in the 1900s.

Two boys from the Shingwauk Indian Residential School drowned, circa 1914-1915, in a little lake that was located on a farm adjacent to the Shingwauk school site and the Shingwauk Cemetery.

The boys were never identified or recovered, and their bodies remain interred in Snowdon Park.

We are in negotiations with the federal government to access records that may help us identify who these boys were and when they died.

On 21 November 1929, a third Shingwauk student, Peter Beauvais from the Kanesatake (Oka) First Nation, drowned in that pond; he was buried in the Shingwauk Cemetery.

On 27 February 1960, Gerald Crossman, an Anna McCrea Public School student, died while trying to save his younger brother Robert who fell into the pond.

Gerald drowned, and his body was eventually recovered with the help of the Sault Ste. Marie police and fire departments.

I ask you to join us in our efforts to help to promote reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada and approve our request.

Sincerely,
Irene Barbeau, president
Children of Shingwauk Alumni Association
cc: Ken Crossman

City staff have been working with a Children of Shingwauk committee for the past year and a half, preparing a plan for a memorial site and place of reflection.

"The project is underway and this fall three trees were planted and three benches were installed in a triangle in the northwest corner of the park," says Virginia McLeod, the city's manager of recreation and culture.

"A large rock sits in the middle which will hold a sign providing the history of the tragedies."

"To improve access to the memorial, the no-parking signs on Florwin Drive have been removed. In the spring the path from Florwin Drive will be repaired to provide better accessibility and a new path will be added from the main pathway over to the memorial," McLeod says.

Three bronze plaques will be attached to the tree guards, with the following approved wording; 

To the memory of two young boys _________ and ________, whose names are currently unknown, from the Shingwauk Indian Residential School, who drowned in this pond circa 1914.

In addition we want to remember Peter Beauvais, a student of Shingwauk Indian Residential School who came from Oka, Quebec. Peter drowned in this pond in 1929, and is buried in The Shingwauk Cemetery.

It is with great respect that we remember these children who never went home. The Children of Shingwauk Alumni Association 2022.

This memorial is dedicated to the memory of Gerald Crossman who drowned in the pond located on this site on February 27, 1960 at the age of 10. He was a grandson, son and brother but above all a hero who bravely tried to save his brother from the same fate. Ken Crossman and family and The Children of Shingwauk Alumni Association 2022.

This memorial is in recognition that Nellie Ojeebah Mitchell, Ellen Pine, Marjorie Owl and Barb Sagon from the Shingwauk Residential School saved Robert Crossman from the same fate as his brother. It is with great respect that these women be recognized for their bravery and caring spirits. The Children of Shingwauk Alumni Association.

Monday's city council meeting will be live-streamed on SooToday starting at 4:30 p.m.

A national residential school crisis line has been established to provide support to former students and their families. The 24-hour crisis line can be accessed at 1-866-925-4419.