A process to remove derogatory names of U.S. geographic features has been established by Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, a release by the U.S. Department of the Interior(DOI) said.
Secretarial Order 3404, put into effect Nov. 19, identifies ‘squaw’ as derogatory. A newly-created Derogatory Geographic Names Task Force will be responsible for finding replacement names for more than 650 federal land features with the term, Order 3404 said.
“Racist terms have no place in our vernacular or on our federal lands,” Haaland said in the release. “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. Today’s actions will accelerate an important process to reconcile derogatory place names and mark a significant step in honoring the ancestors who have stewarded our lands since time immemorial.”
The task force includes people from federal land management agencies and experts from the DOI, the release said. It will be speaking with tribal members and taking public feedback to decide on new names for the features.
To assist with the project, the Advisory Committee on Reconciliation in Place Names was created through Secretarial Order 3405 to review and recommend changes, the release said. This includes representatives from Indian Tribes, Tribal and Hawaiian organizations, experts in civil rights, anthropology and history as well as the general public.
“It will establish a process to solicit and assist with proposals to the Secretary to change derogatory names, and will include engagement with Tribes, state and local governments, and the public,” the release said.
Derogatory names have been removed in the past by the Secretary of the Interior and Board of Geographic Names. This included a pejorative term for African Americans in 1962 and another offensive term for Japanese peoples in 1974, Order 3404 said.
The word ‘squaw’ was used as an offensive ethnic, racial and sexist slur for indigenous women. Some states have already passed legislation prohibiting the word, including Montana, Oregon, Maine and Minnesota, the release said. Legislation is currently pending in Congress to address derogatory names on geographic features located in public land units.
