The Department of Interior recently announced its Board on Geographic Names voted on the remaining replacement names for several locations featuring the word "squaw," which has been identified as a derogatory term.
According to a Jan. 12 Department of Interior news release, the newest locations receiving additional review include areas in Alaska, California, North Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Wyoming. In September, the department unveiled the vote to change approximately 650 location names and completed additional review for locations populated unincorporated locations.
“Words matter, particularly in our work to ensure our nation’s public lands and waters are accessible and welcoming to people of all backgrounds," Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in the news release. “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 issued a secretarial order in November 2021 declaring sq--- a derogatory term, according to a Nov. 19, 2021, news release. Haaland also established a Reconciliation in Place Names advisory committee to develop a list of locations featuring derogatory names to be replaced. The Federal Advisory Committee would broadly solicit, review and recommend changes to other derogatory geographic and federal land unit names.
According to an August 2022 news release, the committee included representatives from Indian Tribes; Tribal and Native Hawaiian organizations; historians, anthropology and civil rights experts; officials from the California Department of Parks and Recreation Department of Defense, Department of Agriculture and the Department of the Interior; and the general public.
Once in place, the panel developed a process to identify derogatory names and worked to come up with replacement names, according to the news release. The initial list of names included 650 locations, and can be found on the USGS website.
