For 59 years, the first thing you saw when you drove into Sauble Beach, Ont., was the town’s iconic “Welcome to Sauble Beach” sign, its red lettering arching over the entrance to the beach.
On July 1, residents and tourists woke up to see that the famous sign had been altered. It now reads “Welcome to Saugeen Beach” after a change by the Saugeen First Nation, who recently regained ownership of the central section of the beach. The change is intended to be a symbolic end to their decades long battle with the township of South Bruce Peninsula over rights to the beach.
“The old sign represents the past, and for me, the new sign represents how everything is supposed to be,” says Sonya Roote, a Saugeen councillor. “After decades of fighting for our land back, we finally won, so we thought it should say Saugeen, not Sauble.”
The end to the dispute came after a decision by the Ontario Court of Appeal last December. The appellate judges unanimously upheld a lower court decision that an 1854 Crown survey had improperly excluded a two kilometre stretch of beach from the treaty agreed to by the Saugeen. This reclaimed stretch is now central to the popular beach town where hundreds of thousands of tourists visit every summer.
While the township turned down a request for comment due to their ongoing legal appeals, they did release a public statement. “The Sauble Beach sign is a well-known landmark with deep meaning for many people,” said mayor Jay Kirkland in a press release. “While we respect Saugeen First Nation’s right to make changes on their land, we believe open communication is important—especially when it involves something so symbolic to the broader community. We remain committed to respectful dialogue and working together in the spirit of mutual understanding.”
The Saugeen sent a letter in early spring asking the township to take down the sign, as their original plan was to update it by the Victoria Day long weekend, says Lester Anoquot, a Saugeen councillor and the co-chair of the nation’s Beach Committee. He says there has been no response that he’s aware of.
The locals and tourists interviewed were largely positive about the land claim. “It’s long overdue. It was their land, and if they got it back, then I’m happy with that,” says Kathy Kitson, who has been coming to Sauble for 30 years. However, the sign change was more divisive.
“[I’m] really surprised, and I don’t like it,” said Randy, a Owen Sound, Ont., resident who’s been visiting Sauble for 60 years. “It takes away all those childhood memories.”
“It’s kind of like a slap in the face,” says Judy Mac, who’s been living in Sauble for eight years. She likened the change to U.S. president Donald Trump’s renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.
According to the Saugeen councillors, the decision to implement the change on Canada Day was coincidental. “We actually wanted to have it out a bit earlier than today, but it just kind of worked out that it was on Canada Day,” says Cheree Urscheler, another Saugeen councillor.
The councillors also confirmed that this new sign is just temporary, and that they plan on replacing it with a more updated version, hopefully next year, that better reflects their community. It’s part of a planned slew of updates, including to washroom facilities and fire services, as well as the return of paid parking on sections of the beach. They hope to work with the town and Sauble community on these changes, says Anoquot.
Beneath the updated sign on July 1, the Saugeen held a “Beach Feast,” which was open to everyone and advertised as a “joyful event for the whole community, a time to honour, connect, and reclaim together.” Cheree Urscheler says they saw the event as a great way to “[include] both communities, [and] open the beach season in a good way.” The event featured cakes frosted with the “Saugeen Beach” sign.
While some tourists and locals lament the loss of the sign as a symbol of the history and tradition of Sauble Beach, for the Saugeen, the new sign represents a different history and tradition. It is another step in restoring their ancestral ties to the land and water, and embracing their historical and legal rights to the area.
“This sign for me is like a reclaiming. Reclaiming what has always been ours,” says councillor Sonya Roote. “From what I’ve seen, I’ve seen 80 per cent positive and 20 per cent negative reception, but the negative is very negative…but all I’ve seen is 100 per cent positive reaction from [the Saugeen community],” she says.
“This is still Sauble beach. It’s just a recognition of who was already the rightful owner of the beach,” says Anoquot. “And for a lot of years, we were denied that.”
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