Pro: Yokuts Valley was named properly. Opponents need to get over it and start healing

Editor’s note: This is part of a point-counterpoint on the renaming of Squaw Valley to Yokuts Valley. The opposing view can be found here.

On Jan. 12th, the U.S. Board of Geographical Names gave the 93675 zip code a new name: Yokuts Valley. This marks the culmination of a two-year process that began with local Indigenous activists. It has been supported by local residents, accelerated by the first Indigenous Secretary of the Interior, Deb Haaland, bolstered by the unanimous and bipartisan decisions of the California Assembly and Senate, and followed the unanimous recommendation of the California Advisory Council on Geographical Names.

The name change occurred because the word “squaw” is widely recognized by Indigenous (and non-Indigenous!) people as an offensive, derogatory, misogynist slur (on par with the n-word or the j-word). It needed to be replaced.

Nathan Magsig, Fresno County Supervisor for District 5, was none too happy about it. By 1 p.m. he issued a “clarification” to readers of the Facebook group “Squaw Valley: The Original 93675” that, in actuality, muddied the waters. After reporting that the USBGN’s decision about Yokuts Valley, Magsig stoked white grievance and anger with falsehoods:

▪ Magsig claimed that the USBGN “decided to ignore the comments and resolutions by my office and the residents of Sq— Valley.” Not true! The USBGN carefully considered everything that Magsig had submitted (at the board’s request) — and weighed them with considerations from all interested parties. Carefully considering is not “ignoring.”

▪ Magsig claimed the USBGN “does not have the authority to name recognized locations” that are not on federal land. Not true! In September of this year the USBGN renamed over 650 places, not just federally owned lands, that previously had had “squaw” in their names. Furthermore, the USBGN worked closely with the California Advisory Council on Geographical Names, which had plenty of local input. The implication that the USBGN’s decision was arbitrary and without local input is manifestly false.

▪ Magsig claimed that he expected the California Legislature also to “ignore” his office’s comments and resolutions. Not true! While the Legislature does have the authority to change place names, in the case of Sq— Valley, this is not a future decision. AB 2022 already became law (past tense) in November. And the CACGN has already selected “Yokuts Valley” as the replacement name.

It is ironic that Magsig complained about being “ignored,” while for two years he blocked requests from the local Indigenous community (and others) to get a hearing on this issue; he has dismissed the statements of Indigenous leaders that the word “squaw” is a derogatory and racist slur; and he has refused to acknowledge the fact that genocide cleared the way for white settlement of this region.

Magsig has not been “ignored.” His efforts to stop the name change through the channels available to him have failed. As a professional politician, he is supposed to know how politics work. If he didn’t fill out the right forms, or didn’t pay sufficient attention to the process he is complaining about, that’s his responsibility. To cast aspersions at the USBGN, the CACGN, the Legislature, and anybody else is blame-casting, unprofessional and unproductive.

The objections to the name change to Yokuts Valley play to unacknowledged white bigotry and racism against Indigenous people. The objections are part of a “cultural war” that centers white grievance against “liberals who are taking over” America. The objections stem from a view of government itself as evil (which, admittedly, sometimes it can be, but not in this case). And the objections are willful ignorance by whites to deny the trauma their ancestors caused in the catastrophic California genocide. (See “An American Genocide,” by Benjamin Madley.)

The objections reveal a sentiment among whites that whites are the victims of “white genocide;” that whites are being persecuted by our government; and that whites are facing “forced assimilation.” This historical and moral blindness is awful to behold.

The Yokuts Valley decision has been made. What we as a community need to do now is quit bickering about the name change, accept that change happens and get on with the healing.

Bayard Taylor is a resident of Yokuts Valley