US renames 5 places that used racist slur for a Native woman
, 2023-01-13 05:42:00,
The US Department of the Interior announced Thursday that it has given new names to five places that previously included a racist term for a Native American woman.
Renamed locations in California, North Dakota, Tennessee and Texas are complete A year-long process to remove the historically offensive word “Squaw” is a toponym across the country.
“Words matter, particularly in our work to ensure our country’s public lands and waters are accessible and welcoming to people of all backgrounds,” Home Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement. She called the word “harmful.”
Haaland, who took office in 2021, is the first Native American to lead a ministerial agency.
In September, the Home Office announced its final vote on proposals to change the names of approximately 650 locations containing the word. The agency conducted an additional review of seven sites, all of which are considered uninhabited places. Five of those were changed in Thursday’s announcement.
In western North Dakota, the new name Homesteaders Gap was chosen by members of a small community as a nod to their local history.
Mark Fox, chieftain of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara nation, welcomed the change, saying Bismarck Tribune that the slander “already causes serious, strong feelings and resistance to this term”. In a statement to the Associated Press, he said that was long overdue, and “We’re glad…
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