Word is considered offensive because of its derogatory use by white people following colonisation of the Americas
\n Washington
\nUS Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, the first Native American to hold the position, is finalising steps to remove the word \u201csquaw\u201d from all federal lands because the word has historically been used as a slur against Indigenous women.
\nAccording to a news release on Friday, a 13-member derogatory geographic names task force has concluded its review of the more than 660 geographic features that have the word, which the federal government now refers to as \u201csq___.\u201d
\nThe effort was first announced in February when the department launched a comment period and began reviewing replacement names.
\nThe task force received more than 6,000 comments and an additional 300 comments through consultations with Indian nations.
\nHaaland, a member of New Mexico\u2019s Laguna Pueblo tribe, said she was grateful for the task force\u2019s \u201cwork to ensure that racist names like sq___ no longer have a place on our federal lands.\u201d
\nShe said she hoped to \u201cimplement changes as soon as is reasonable,\u201d following a vote by the US board on geographic names.
\nThe department is also reviewing the names of several towns, such as Squaw Harbour in Alaska, where there are \u201cunique concerns\u201d about renaming, the statement added.
\n\u201cSquaw\u201d appears as a part of words in the Algonquian languages of northeastern North America, where it means \u201cwoman.\u201d But it is now considered offensive because of its derogatory use by white people following the colonisation of the Americas.
\nFor example, it was commonly used in depictions of Native women that reduced them to exotic objects.
\nThe federal government\u2019s actions are also part of a broader movement \u2014 last year, the famous Squaw Valley ski resort near Lake Tahoe in California changed its name to Palisades Tahoe.
\nThere have however been attempts by some Native Americans to reclaim the word in its original, non-offensive form.
\nQuoted in an Indian Country Today article from 2017, Marge Bruchac, an anthropologist at the University of Pennsylvania of Abenaki Indian descent, defended its use.
\n\u201cI understand the concern of Indian women who feel insulted by this word, but I respectfully suggest that we reclaim our language rather than let it be taken over.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Word is considered offensive because of its derogatory use by white people following colonisation of the Americas Washington US Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, the first Native American to hold the position, is finalising steps to remove the word \u201csquaw\u201d from all federal lands because the word has historically been used as a slur against Indigenous […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":273118,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-273092","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n