‘This has gotten somewhat ridiculous’: Metro Parks Board receives feedback on Cumberland Park renaming

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Metro Parks’ Tuesday meeting saw feedback on the proposed renaming of Cumberland Park, with multiple attendees expressing dismay at the length of the process.

Tuesday meeting’s agenda opened up the public comment period saw remarks about the proposed name change to Cumberland Park. Albert Bender, chairperson for the Indigenous Peoples Coalition Nashville, said that the process for the name change is taking too long.

“This has gotten somewhat ridiculous because the Indigenous community and the wider community is saying, ‘Gosh, you’ve already been through the naming committee. You’ve been through the Parks Board, now you want to do this again,'” Bender said. “…I would suggest very, very strongly that this Parks Board correct this by calling for a special session to address the issue of name change and make a decision before the end of November, particularly in light of the fact that this is Native American Heritage Month.”

Gregory Williams Welsch echoed Bender’s sentiments about frustrations with delays in the process.

“Renaming the park is a crumb — a mere crumb of the banquet that was taken from our Indigenous brothers and sisters,” Welsch said. “We need to make it right and that is just a little start.”

Activist have been working to get a request passed through the Metropolitan Parks and Recreation board to officially change the park’s name to Wasioto Park. According to a previous News 2 report, the river that shares the name with the park was first known as the Wasioto River to the Shawnee people who lived in the region until they were driven out in the 18th century.

Park board member Susannah Scott-Barnes said that the renaming committee would meet again in December.