For most of 2022 , the United States Department of the Interior has made an effort to radicallyrevise the namesof more than 600 federal sites . The reason ? The names made use of the wordsquaw , long considered a pejorative in the Native American community .
Now , that task is complete .
The project was championed by Deb Haaland , the Interior Department secretary and the first Native American to serve in the position . Haaland , whoformally declared“squaw ” a derogatory term in November 2021,organizeda 13 - member task force to crop with Tribal representative and official to rename the federal geographic sites .
“ Words affair , particularly in our work to make our commonwealth ’s public lands and waters accessible and welcoming to people of all backgrounds , ” Haaland said in a February 2022 statement . “ condition of these replacement is a braggart step forward in our efforts to remove derogatory terms whose exit dates are long delinquent . ”
In acomprehensive listof the name change , Arizona ’s Squaw Canyon became Red Rock Canyon ; in California , Squaw Creek is now Grasshopper Creek ; New Mexico ’s Squaw Brook is now Porter Brook .
The casual use of “ squaw ” and its attachment to federal state has long been controversial , with the Board on Geographic Names receiving proposal to rename situation for the past two decades .
“ Squaw ” probably has roots in the Algonquin language and in the beginning intend “ charwoman . ” But it was co - prefer by colonists and recontextualized as a derogatory slur . According to Haaland , the full term was used to disregard and dehumanise autochthonic women who had been sexually dishonour .
Ina statementissued on September 8 , 2022 , the Department of the Interior announced the changes for nearly 650 site were effective immediately . Laws havealso been passedat the state degree to address the slur for nonfederal sites .
[ h / tSmithsonian ]
