The word has not always been considered offensive. Shannon O'Loughlin, CEO and attorney (right) for the Association on American Indian Affairs, said in an email that the word comes from the Algonquian language, where it means “woman,” and she said a similar word in the Mohawk language means “vagina,” but that it gained a negative connotation over time.
“The term has been used in derogatory ways by colonizers until today, as a sexualized stereotype of a Native American woman,” said O’Loughlin, who is a citizen of the Choctaw Nation.
“Coupled with the violence against – and trafficking of – Native American women and girls in the United States, the s-word is not appropriate to honor and acknowledge the sacrifices that Native Peoples have made to protect the honor of the United States,” her email said.
The USGS noted that not all the locations it identified will necessarily get new names. Sites that are considered historical, have an unknown location or are not under the purview of the Board on Geographic Names may be excluded, for example. Squaw Beach in Mohave County is one of the places that USGS said is considered historical, the only such site in Arizona.
This will not be the first time that an Arizona place is eyed for a name change because the old name was considered offensive. In 2003, the Arizona State Board on Geographic and Historic Names voted to change the name of Squaw Peak in Phoenix to Piestewa Peak. The name change became official when the federal board approved it in 2008.
Dawnafe Whitesinger, chairwoman of the Navajo County Board of Supervisors, said in a statement that the latest federal action “is long overdue.” (Whitesinger, right)
“Indigenous women across this nation have been marginalized and often have been invisible to the nation’s narrative,” Whitesinger’s statement said. “As an Indigenous woman, I applaud Secretary Haaland for taking such an important step.”
O’Loughlin said Native Americans deserve to be recognized for their contributions to the nation, pointing to the relatively high percentage who fight in our wars, among other things. But they should be recognized without being sexualized, she said.
“Native nations have many amazing heroes whose names should be remembered in our greater society. Place name changes should not be controversial, but instead should be an opportunity to uplift all of us,” she said.
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