650 locations in US get new names to erase racist slurs

“We’re showing why representation matters and charting a path for an inclusive America,” said interior secretary Deb Haaland

Creeks, towns and mountain passes are among the 650 places across the United States that have removed “Squaw”, a derogatory term for Native American woman, from their names.

On Thursday, the US government said all 650 place names had been approved by the Board on Geographic Names (BGN), paving the way for hundreds of geographical features and communities to remove the word.

“Together, we’re showing why representation matters and charting a path for an inclusive America,” interior secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement. “The Board on Geographic Names took an important step today to replace racist and derogatory names that have graced federal locations for far too long.”

Among the places with a new name are Colorado’s Mestaa’ėhehe Pass near Mestaa’ėhehe Mountain, about 30 miles west of Denver, as the Associated Press reported of the BGN list.

The new name honours an Owl Woman, an influential translator who aided communications between Native Americans and white traders and soldiers in what is now southern Colorado, the news agency added.

In Utah, 50 places will have new names including Squaw Mountain/Peak, which KSL.com reported on Thursday will be renamed Kyhv Peak.

The changes are the result of a nearly year-long process set in motion by Ms Haaland, the United States’s first Native American cabinet secretary, last year.

“I feel a deep obligation to use my platform to ensure that our public lands and waters are accessible and welcoming,” she said in her statement on Thursday. “I am grateful to the members of the Derogatory Geographic Names Task Force and the Board on Geographic Names for their efforts to prioritise this important work.”

The BGN, which approved the new names, had been ordered by the US government to remove the offensive term from all geographical features following earlier commitments from individual states and even ski resorts such as California’s Palisades Tahoe, which hosted the 1960 Winter Olympics.

“Federal lands should be welcoming spaces for all citizens,” said Matthew Campbell, the deputy director of The Native American Rights Fund in a statement to the Associated Press. “It is well past time for derogatory names to be removed and tribes to be included in the conversation.”