Sankofa Square: Memory, Identity, and Belonging in the Heart of Toronto

By Nana Yaa Yeboaa

A personal story leading up to the August 24 webinar presentation

A Name Holds Weight

The renaming of Toronto’s Dundas Square to Sankofa Square is more than a change in signage. It is a symbolic act that touches on history, memory, and justice. For people of Ghanaian descent in Canada, it honors the philosophy of Sankofa, a powerful Akan concept rooted in history, identity, and continuity. For Indigenous peoples, it resonates with their own struggles to reclaim language, leadership, and cultural practices lost through colonialism. And for the broader Canadian society, it signals a shift from colonial commemoration to an embrace of plurality, resilience, and shared histories.

Sankofa and the African Diaspora

In the Akan language of Ghana, Sankofa is often translated as “go back and fetch it.” Yet this phrase does not capture the profound depth of its meaning. Sankofa is symbolized by a bird that turns its head backward while its body faces forward embodying the truth that in order to move ahead, one must first look back. It is a philosophy of memory, identity, and responsibility. Its philosophy also touches on the immense knowledge and truths that nature teaches only if we are still and pay attention.

For the descendants of enslaved Africans, Sankofa reminds us of the lives disrupted by slavery. Those taken from the coast of West Africa, including Ghana who were blacksmiths, ironworkers, and artisans whose skills were central to their societies carried it with them to the East Coast of the United States. In their craft was not only function but spirituality and symbolism, which can be found in the iron works. Through iron, they expressed resilience and community values, the very spirit of Sankofa. To rename a square in Toronto after this philosophy is to honor their memory, a collective human story, ensuring that their knowledge and contributions are not lost to time.

The Akan proverb states, “A child that knows the way home does not get lost.” Sankofa teaches African diasporic communities that reconnecting with ancestral memory is a way of finding home, even in lands far from Africa. The name Sankofa Square, therefore, is a call to identity, belonging, and cultural pride for generations of other Africans living in Canada and to indigenous populations, a reclamation and reaffirmation.

Memory as Resistance

Public spaces are never neutral. They tell stories about who belongs, who is remembered, and whose histories are erased. Dundas Square, named after Henry Dundas, a figure who delayed the abolition of slavery, stood as a silent monument to colonial legacies. Renaming it Sankofa Square reclaims the space for communities who were historically marginalized and oppressed.

This act of renaming is memory as resistance. It transforms the public stage into a space of truth-telling and healing. Rather than enshrining colonial power, it now reflects resilience, cultural continuity, and the determination of indigenous and diasporic communities to root themselves in truth and tell their historical truths. For Canadians at large, it asks an important question: how do we build a society that acknowledges difficult histories while celebrating the resilience of those who endured them?

Sankofa on Indigenous Land

The significance of Sankofa deepens when we consider that Toronto sits on Indigenous land. The philosophy of Sankofa, retrieving the past in order to move forward aligns strongly with Indigenous practices of memory and resurgence. Across Canada, Indigenous peoples are reclaiming languages, reviving ceremonies, restoring self-leadership, and affirming the value of two-spirited identities.

Elders hold wisdom, stories, and teachings that link the past to the present. This mirrors the Sankofa call to look back in order to walk with clarity into the future. Indigenous communities know that survival requires reclaiming cultural memory and telling stories from their own perspectives, principles that echo the Akan philosophy.

By placing Sankofa on Indigenous land, the renaming honors both African and Indigenous traditions of resilience. It becomes a shared language of healing and reclamation, acknowledging that colonialism disrupted not only African lives through enslavement but also Indigenous lives through dispossession and assimilation. Sankofa Square, then, is a meeting point where these philosophies converge.

Culture, Community, and Society

Sankofa is a living practice. It speaks to love of self, responsibility to community, and commitment to heritage. In Canadian society, where multiculturalism is celebrated yet often challenged by systemic racism, Sankofa Square becomes a beacon. It encourages African and Indigenous communities to see themselves reflected in the city’s landscape.

At the same time, it invites broader Canadian society to engage with history not as something static but as something that shapes the present. By renaming this square, Toronto recognizes that inclusivity is not only about representation but also about rooting public spaces in justice and truth.

A Celebration of Land, Ancestors, and the Future

The Sankofa philosophy insists on a holistic view of time honoring ancestors, recognizing the present, and preparing for the future. To call this space Sankofa Square is to celebrate land and lineage, to remember the village bell so that we do not get lost in the square of life.

It is also a call to action. For the African diaspora, it demands a commitment to cultural pride, storytelling, and knowledge of self. For Indigenous peoples, it affirms the necessity of reclaiming traditions and sovereignty. For society as a whole, it urges a reckoning with colonial histories and a reimagining of the future built on respect, equity, and solidarity.

Knowing the Way Home

Finally, in renaming Dundas Square to Sankofa Square, Toronto has created more than a landmark. It has created a site of convergence, where African and Indigenous philosophies meet, where memory resists erasure, and where community identity is reaffirmed. Sankofa teaches that the path forward is illuminated by the wisdom of the past.

A child who knows the way home does not get lost. With Sankofa Square, Toronto has chosen a name that helps us all remember the way back so that together, we may move forward with clarity, justice, and belonging.