Six creeks or tributaries on federal land in Kansas, all of which bore names that included the word “squaw,” saw those changed this month.
The U.S. Department of Interior announced Sept. 8 that its Board on Geographic Names had approved new names for nearly 650 geographic features nationwide that formerly contained the word that is derogatory to Indigenous women.
That department released a list showing the new names. Five were creeks formerly called Squaw Creek.
- Oaks Creek in Brown County in northeast Kansas.
- Brown Creek in Brown and Doniphan counties in northeast Kansas.
- Potato Creek in Cherokee County in southeast Kansas and Ottawa County in northeast Oklahoma.
- Hogback Creek in Chautauqua County in southeast Kansas.
- Elk Creek in Montgomery County in southeast Kansas.
- Horseshoe Branch in Norton County in northwest Kansas (formerly Squaw Branch).
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The word “squaw” was formally declared derogatory last November in an order issued by Deb Haaland, the nation’s first Native American secretary of the interior.
“Squaw” is an ethnic, racial and sexist slur, particularly for Indigenous women, Haaland said in a news release.
“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,” she said.
Haaland ordered the Board on Geographic Names, the federal body tasked with naming geographic places, to find replacement names for more than 660 geographic features bearing that term, including the six waterways in Kansas.
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Word’s original meaning has been skewed
Haaland is following the lead of past secretaries of the interior.
That department in 1962 began steps that resulted in its banning of a six-letter word from being used in place names on federal land in the U.S. In 1974, the department banned the use in place names on federal land of a three-letter word.
The term “squaw” originated from the Algonquian word for “woman,” but its meaning has been skewed for centuries by white people, Haaland said.
The order she issued last November created a 13-member federal task force to find replacement names for geographic features on federal lands that include that term.
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‘Words matter,’ Deb Haaland says
Haaland in February then made public suggested new names for each of those places and asked for public comment about those recommendations.
“Words matter, particularly in our work to make our nation’s public lands and waters accessible and welcoming to people of all backgrounds,” she said. “Consideration of these replacements is a big step forward in our efforts to remove derogatory terms whose expiration dates are long overdue.”
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Haaland announced last month that the task force had completed its review and had received more than 6,600 comments from the public.
The task force provided replacement name recommendations to the U.S. Board on Geographic Names, which voted on those recommendations Sept. 8.
Tim Hrenchir can be reached at (785) 213-5934 or threnchir@gannett.com.
Read More:Derogatory word ‘squaw’ removed from names of six Kansas waterways
2022-09-29 10:35:25
