'Squaw' still Utah moniker

PROVO — While states across the nation move to sweep the word "squaw" — a term deemed derogatory by many American Indians — from state and federal maps, Utah has yet to broach the subject.

In 2008 alone, the U.S. Board on Geographic Names has renamed 22 geographic features to eliminate the word "squaw" from locations throughout Arizona, Maine, Montana, South Dakota and Washington. The board's actions effectively approve revision of federal maps and documents to reflect the areas' new names.

The term squaw is considered highly offensive by many American Indians.

"That's an insult," said Ed Naranjo, vice chairman of the Confederated Tribes of the Goshute Reservation at Ibapah, of the word. "It's like cussing someone out or calling them a name."

Administrative assistant Jennifer Runyon said the board is slated to review five more name-change proposals in South Dakota at its next meeting June 12.

If the board moves to scrub the word squaw from the names of those South Dakota locations, it will be the highest number of approvals the board has given to eradicate the controversial term in recent history. The board approved 12 proposals in 2006 and 22 in 2007 to blot out the word.

But while squaw is being edited out of names of geographic sites across the nation, there have been no formal proposals submitted to rename any of Utah's approximately 40 features that have the word in their official names, including Squaw Peak — Utah's most prominent listing, located on the south side of Provo Canyon.

Members of the Utah Committee on Geographic Names — a state organization that reviews and recommends name changes to the federal board — have heard people express a desire to brush the word squaw off the maps, executive secretary Susan Whetstone said, but no formal proposals have been submitted yet.

"It's kind of a two-sided coin," Whetstone said of the word. "Some tribes don't necessarily regard it as derogatory."

Some linguists say squaw is a corruption of a Algonquian word that merely means woman. But a competing claim asserts that squaw actually comes from the Mohawk word "ojiskwa" — a derogatory term referring to female genitalia.

Naranjo said he's surprised to hear the word squaw is connected to so many locations throughout the state, and he thinks it's time to purge it from Utah maps.

"I don't think a non-Indian person would appreciate something derogatory named after them," he said. "We need to let the tribes be aware of this and push the state to change those names."

Each location has a different story to the origins of its name. But according to John W. Van Cott, author of "Utah Place Names," Squaw Peak received its current moniker due to a tragic event.