The Department of the Interior has been working to eliminate derogatory names from public lands and, on Feb. 22, announced the potential names that could serve as replacements.
Deb Haaland, secretary of the Department of the Interior, said that public lands should not have an offensive name to indigenous people.
“Derogatory names have no place on our public lands and waters,” she said on Twitter. “Today’s announcement is the next step in creating spaces that are inclusive of all people.”
Huffington Post reported that the DOI announced that it will begin the process of choosing names by meeting with tribal leaders virtually on and accepting comments until April 24.
“The process began in November 2021, when Secretary Haaland issued Secretarial Order 3404, which formally identified the term as derogatory. The order also created the Derogatory Geographic Names Task Force,” DOI wrote on Twitter. “The group's first action was to replace the full spelling with 'sq___' on official communications.”
A news release reported that there are hundreds of names within numerous states that could be impacted with the U.S. Geological Survey compiling roughly 660 possible names to replace the "sq___" term.
Among them are Baralof Bay for Alaska's Sq___ Harbor; White Hills for Arizona's Sq___ Peak; Logan Creek for California's Sq___ Peak; Half Hill Brook, for Connecticut's Sq___ Rock, and numerous others, according to United States Geological Survey.
"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 added. “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 Derogatory Geographic Names Task Force will include leaders from federal land management agencies, along with diversity and inclusion specialists from DOI.
