5 Places That Used Slur for Native American Women Are Renamed

U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland delivers remarks at the 2021 Tribal Nations Summit, at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 15, 2021. Alex Wong/Getty Images

Five unincorporated populated areas in the United States that used the word “squaw,” which is considered a derogatory term toward Native American women, have had their names changed.

Renaming the sites—located in California, North Dakota, Tennessee, and Texas—completes a years-long process to remove the word from geographic sites across the country.

The U.S. Department of the Interior announced the move last week, which comes after the Department’s Board on Geographic Names (BGN) voted to remove the names of 650 other assets last September.

“Words matter, particularly in our work to ensure our nation’s public lands and waters are accessible and welcoming to people of all backgrounds,” said Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland. “I am grateful to the members of the Derogatory Geographic Names Task Force and the Board on Geographic Names for their efforts to finalize the removal of this harmful word. Together, we are showing why representation matters and charting a path for an inclusive America.”

Haaland, of New Mexico, is the first Native American to hold a cabinet-level position. In November 2021, she declared “squaw” a derogatory term and created a committee to identify and replace the word on geographic features on federal lands.

In 2021, authorities renamed 28 Wisconsin sites to remove an allegedly racist word, a panel recommended the name change of a Colorado mountain tied to a massacre, and the federal government renamed hundreds of peaks, lakes, streams, and other geographical features with racist and misogynistic terms.

Precedent exists with the decision, as the department ordered the renaming of places with derogatory names for black and Japanese people in 1962 and 1974.

Renaming Relevant Sites

Haaland ordered the BGN—the federal body tasked with naming geographic places—to implement procedures to remove the term from federal usage.

“Racist terms have no place in our vernacular or on our federal lands. Our nation’s lands and waters should be places to celebrate the outdoors and our shared cultural heritage—not to perpetuate the legacies of oppression,” Haaland said in a statement at the time.

The department said in a statement the vote came after the year-long process to remove from federal use a term “that has historically been used as an offensive ethnic, racial and sexist slur, particularly for Indigenous women.”

The department noted that because there were unique concerns with renaming populated locations, the BGN sought additional review and comments from tribes, local communities, and stakeholders before the final vote.

The seven places for additional review include:

• Squaw Hill, California: Name changed to Loybas Hill.
• Squaw Valley, California: Name changed to Yokuts Valley.
• Squaw Gap, North Dakota: Name changed to Homesteaders Gap.
• Squawberry, Tennessee: Name changed to Partridgeberry.
• Squaw Mountain, Texas: Name changed to Lynn Creek.
• Squaw Place, Wyoming: Removed from consideration. Feature is a locale now listed as privately owned land.
• Squaw Harbor, Alaska: Removed from consideration. Feature is a historical area that no longer serves as an unincorporated community.

The department explained although the list of names is immediately effective for federal use and has been updated in the U.S. Geological Survey, the public can continue to propose name changes for any features through approved BGN processes.

Local Communities React

Three Affiliated Tribes Chairman Mark Fox told The Bismarck Tribune that the slur “really causes serious and strong emotions and resistance to that term.”

He added in a statement that “we are pleased that the racially insensitive and offensive name has been removed.”

A member of the McKenzie County North Dakota Board of Commissioners said many residents in the area “felt very strongly” in opposition to the switch, and the commissioner said the community would “prefer as little interference from the federal government as possible.”

The department noted Haaland’s order only considered the use of “squaw” in its scope, but a separate order created a federal advisory committee for the department to receive public input on additional “derogatory terms, derogatory terms on federal land units, and the process for derogatory name reconciliation.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.