A progressive Canadian university has been panned online after celebrating Indigenous awards with a name that many say is impossible to decipher. The University of Victoria in British Columbia was mocked after announcing the latest winners of the ɬíɬəl ʔa kʷs ƛ̓kʷəxnəq Skʷukʷəlstəŋəƛ̓ | SIÁMĆEȽ awards. One of the last fluent speakers of the Lekwungen language, Elder Dr Elmer George of the Songhees Nation, died in November at 90 years old. The university said the new names came from the Lekwungen language, also spelled Lək̓ʷəŋən, and the Saanich language, also spelled SENĆOŦEN. The renaming of the alumni awards was just one of the progressive measures taken in recent years by the Canadian university.

Source: Daily Mail March 28, 2026 16:14 UTC