Interior Secretary Deb Haaland is calling for derogatory place names to be erased from the federal landscape, a move that will require a handful of national parks to change names that dot their landscapes.
On Friday the secretary announced that a formal review process has been created to come up with new names for places currently carrying derogatory names. Along that line, she also declared “squaw” to be a derogatory term and ordered the Board on Geographic Names – the federal body tasked with naming geographic places – to implement procedures to remove the term from federal usage.
A number of National Park System units will have to come up with replacement names to meet that directive. The Needles Campground at Canyonlands National Park in Utah was once called the Squaw Flat Campground. Search the park's website and you'll find that Canyonlands has locations once, or currently, known as Squaw Creek and Squaw Canyon.
Elsewhere, a search of nps.gov finds Squaw Tank in Joshua Tree National Park in California, Squaw Lake at Mount Rainier National Park in Washington, Squaw Mountain at Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve in Alaska, Squaw Hill at Klondike Glold Rush National Historical Park in Alaska, and Squaw Creek at Sequoia and Kings Canyons National Park.
"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,” said the secretary. “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.”
Secretarial Order 3404 formally identifies the term “squaw” as derogatory and creates a federal task force to find replacement names for geographic features on federal lands bearing the term. The term has historically been used as an offensive ethnic, racial, and sexist slur, particularly for Indigenous women. There are currently more than 650 federal land units that contain the term, according to a database maintained by the Board on Geographic Names.
The newly created Derogatory Geographic Names Task Force will include representatives from federal land management agencies, as well as diversity, equity, and inclusion experts from the Interior Department. The Secretarial Order requires that the task force engage in tribal consultation and consider public feedback on proposed name changes.
Additionally, Secretarial Order 3405 creates a Federal Advisory Committee to broadly solicit, review, and recommend changes to other derogatory geographic and federal land unit names. The Advisory Committee on Reconciliation in Place Names will include representation from Indian Tribes, tribal and Native Hawaiian organizations, civil rights, anthropology, and history experts, and members of 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.
Together, the Secretarial Orders will accelerate the process by which derogatory names are identified and replaced. Currently, the Board on Geographic Names is structured, by design, to act on a case-by-case basis through a process that puts the onus on the proponents to identify the offensive name and to suggest a replacement. The process to secure review and approvals can be lengthy, often taking years to complete a name change. Currently, there are hundreds of name changes pending before the board. The newly established Federal Advisory Committee will facilitate a proactive and systematic development and review of these proposals, in consultation with local community representatives.
The Board on Geographic Names – originally established by Executive Order in 1890 – is a federal body designed to maintain uniform geographic name usage throughout the federal government. It is comprised of representatives from federal agencies concerned with geographic information, population, ecology, and management of public lands. In 1947, the Secretary of the Interior was given joint authority with the Board on Geographic Names and has final approval or review of its actions.
Derogatory names have previously been identified by the Secretary of the Interior or the Board on Geographic Names and have been comprehensively replaced. In 1962, Secretary Stewart Udall identified the N-word as derogatory, and directed that the BGN develop a policy to eliminate its use. In 1974, the Board on Geographic Names identified a pejorative term for “Japanese” as derogatory and eliminated its use.
Several states have passed legislation prohibiting the use of the word “squaw” in place names, including Montana, Oregon, Maine, and Minnesota. There is also legislation pending in both chambers of Congress to address derogatory names on geographic features on public land units.
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Comments
Once again you are wrong y_p_w - That quote is one among many that identify Newspeak as an attempt to control though. I challange you to find any discoussion of 1984 that says otherwise. I am against any forced thought whether it be conservative or liberal. But then I am also against forced teaching of false narratives especially when it goes agains the parents will. Oh and buy the way, saying somthing is "sad" hardly falls in the catagory of "outrage". Just another attempt to use the language to change the narrative.
You still lose the big picture about what 1984 was about. There was a reason why there were so many people researching the book after the words "alternative facts" came out of the mouth of Kellyanne Conway.
The history isn't lost simply because the name of a place is changed. I suppose you think the cities Stalingrad and Leningrad being renamed was wrong. Because those were OK at the time they were renamed.
You will continue to claim victimhood because it's who you are. Granted your diatribe here reminds me more of Doublethink than of Newspeak.
Sheesh. For years I was in NPT multiple times per day, never failing to call out problematic apologists for the sorts of people who charged the capital on Jan 6th. Most of the past year or so when I've checked in I found no screeds from the usual suspects. Apparently, that has changed.
Today I have no patience for Buck's ilk, although I do note that more and more of them are being charged for their criminal behavior on Jan 6th. I no longer get paid a professional rate to deal with people dwelling deep in the latest DSM.
I'm certain most parents here understand what happens when you reward childish attention-seeking behavior. Stop playing whack-a-mole with a mole who enjoys it that much. My condolences, Kurt.
TL/dr ---
Eric, please continue to explain why you don't consider racism to be racist. You'll find a small number who agree with you. But you're used to the martyrdom of being a member of a valiant but spurned malignancy.
This thread has gone far beyond its usefulness, and so we're shutting it down.