'Squaw' still Utah moniker

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.

In February 1850, a white-Indian conflict broke out at the mouth of the Provo River. Big Elk, a chief of the local Piute Indians, was killed in the struggle, and "his squaw fled with others toward the foothills to the east." During the escape, she fell from the peak and died.

Naranjo disagrees with Cott's assertion that the name is honorary. He thinks the name was originally meant to mock the Piute woman for falling off the peak.

"It would be better to go back and find out the chief's wife's name," he said.

The U.S. Board on Geographic Names recently approved a measure to rename Squaw Peak in Arizona in honor of Army Pfc. Lori Piestewa, a Hopi from Tuba City, Ariz., who was killed in Iraq in 2003.

The state committee approved the measure shortly after her death, but the federal board waited five years — as mandated by their policy for naming a place in honor of someone who died — before accepting the change.

Kathryn MacKay, a professor of history at Weber State University, used to study the history and culture of the West for the American West Center at University of Utah. She said the term squaw isn't derogatory in the original language, but it has become pejorative in English, which is "reflective of our own misogynistic language."

If landmarks are renamed, MacKay said, American Indians should initiate the process. During her time with the American West Center, she noticed most attempts to remove the word squaw from landmarks are pushed by non-American Indians.

"Is this an effort to assuage some of our guilt?" she asked. "Is it an effort to rethink this? I don't know."

Whetstone said any name-change proposal would have to be submitted to the state committee, which would decide whether to recommend the change to the national board.

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Utah locations with 'Squaw' names

Beaver County: Squaw Gulch, Squaw Peak, Squaw Spring

Box Elder County: Squaw Flat

Cache County: Squaw Flat

Carbon County: Squaw Fill

Duchesne County: Squaw Basin, Squaw Basin Creek, Squaw Creek, Squaw Lake and Squaw Peak

Emery County: Squaw Spring

Garfield County: Squaw Spring

Grand County: Squaw Park, Squaw Pass