Three Secwepemc names are being suggested for the new pedestrian bridge in Williams Lake.
In advance of the RC Cotton Bridge having its soft opening on Wednesday, Feb. 26, Williams Lake Indian Band (WLIB) cultural co-ordinator David Archie will be presenting those three names to city council at its regular meeting Tuesday.
Read more: Plans in the works to open RC Cotton Bridge by end of February
An agenda item for the upcoming meeting includes a report with the proposed names: Knepentwecw, which translates into “we come together,” Nekw7usem which means “one tribe or one family (unity) and Chief Felix Bob after the first elected chief of the WLIB.
The new bridge connects to a new path on the RC Cotton site and Scout Island. The City is also applying for funds to expand the new trail to eventually connect with the River Valley trail system.
Mayor Walt Cobb said during a meeting with the WLIB the two governments talked about things they can together.
“They talked about having streets named after people from the WLIB community, but we don’t have that many new streets coming up in the near feature. When we looked at renaming streets, it was complicated because you have to change postal codes and everything.”
When the WLIB suggested giving the bridge a Secwepemc name, Cobb thought it was a great idea.
“We were looking at ways of getting something named in the short term and with no new streets coming up we thought the bridge was perfect.”
Read more: City council to consider grant application for boardwalk connecting RC Cotton site to River Valley
