Slur removed from place names in U.S. Here’s what Washington names changed under federal order
The federal government has removed a word long used to slur Native American women from use on federal lands including 19 sites in Washington, U.S. Department of Interior officials announced Thursday.
New names will replace the word, effective immediately, at nearly 650 geographic features across the country including Kiya Lake, formerly known as Squaw Lake, in Pierce County and Wowpu-tushwa, long known as Squaw Lake in Chelan County. The decision also creates Olympic Valley, long known as Squaw Valley near Lake Tahoe in California, site of the 1960 Winter Olympics.
The announcement came after the Board of Geographic Names, the body that maintains usage of place names across the nation, voted on the replacements.
“I feel a deep obligation to use my platform to ensure that our public lands and waters are accessible and welcoming. That starts with removing racist and derogatory names that have graced federal locations for far too long,” said Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, the first Native American to serve as a cabinet secretary. Haaland is a member of the Pueblo of Laguna and a 35th-generation New Mexican.
“Together, we are showing why representation matters and charting a path for an inclusive America,” Haaland said in the Thursday announcement.
A special task force of representatives from the National Park Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Forest Service and other agencies received more than 1,000 recommendations for name changes, officials said; while nearly 70 Tribal governments brought in hundreds more recommendations.
In September 2021, owners of the Lake Tahoe-area resort long known as Squaw Valley changed the resort’s name to Palisades Tahoe after pledging in 2020 to remove the slur.
The resort in 2020 officially decided to change the name, “after extensive research into the historical and current usage and regional history of the word ‘squaw,’ and discussions with the local Washoe Tribe, which affirmed the position that it is widely considered a racist and sexist slur against Indigenous women,” Palisades Tahoe owners Alterra Mountain Co. wrote in a news release announcing the new name.
The list of new names can be found on the U.S. Geological Survey website with a map of locations.
