Indigenous peoples allowed to recover their traditional names on passports and other ID.

Survivor Peter Nakogee arrived at St. Anne's Residential School in Fort Albany, Ont., knowing no English and going under a different name. "The fact that I was writing in Cree enraged the nun. And all I knew at the time was that my name was Ministik "In 2010, he spoke before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Decades later, the barriers that prevented him from having his old name represented in federal identification are now being eliminated. The federal government said on Monday that Indigenous people can now request to have their traditional names restored on passports and other government identification.

The decision is in reaction to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's call to action in 2015, which asked that governments allow survivors and their families to restore names changed by the residential school system. Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller stated that the announcement takes a step further because it extends to all people of First Nations, Inuit, and Metis descent, potentially affecting hundreds of thousands of people seeking to recover their identity on official documents.

According to Citizenship Minister Marco Mendicino, all fees for name changes on passports, citizenship certificates, and permanent residence cards will be waived. "Indigenous children's traditional names have deep cultural significance. However, colonialism has stolen many First Nations, Inuit, and Metis people of their sacred names " Mendicino stated this at a press conference on Monday.

"Efforts to use traditional names have occasionally been received with everything from courteous rejection to prejudice." The move to clear those barriers follows last month's news that ground-penetrating radar detected what are believed to be the remains of 215 children at a former residential school in Kamloops, B.C.

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