What's In a Name?
There are mountains, valleys, creeks, lakes, and other physical landmarks, 800 of them, that have one thing in common, they all have the word "squaw" in their names. -taken from Sierra Magazine
It is commonly thought that squaw is an American Indian word for woman. In fact, some language scientists say squaw is an Algonquin word for woman. It is said that squaw is an inarguable slur directed at Indigenous women. Over the centuries it has become a means of using language to demean.
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland vowed to change that. Haaland announced her intention to create a formal process to review and replace derogatory place-names. She also officially classified squaw as offensive and created a federal task force to find names. "Racist terms have no place in our vernacular or on our federal lands."
In my 80+ years I have never heard squaw used in a derogatory sense. I personally don't even think about a woman of any kind when I hear it. To me it is just a name
I am left handed but I am not offended when a pitcher is called a Southpaw while a right handed pitcher is right handed as in right meaning correct. In the far-east I was call a Yankee, which I suppose was meant as demeaning, but I took it as a fact of life.
Mount Evans is a different story. The mountain was named after John Evans who was the Governor of Colorado in 1864 and was rumored to have ordered the Sand Creek Massacre. At the very least his policies toward the Native American contributed to the massacre. 750 volunteers attacked a village of peaceful Indians who had followed Evans' orders explicitly. The cavalry murdered 28 unarmed men and 105 women, children, and old men who were too old to fight.
Colorado is now thinking of whose name should be on the mountain that looms over Denver. It should not be John Evans. In that case the name does make a difference.
Old Class Image
A friend of mine was going through some old pictures. He is not sure who everyone is, but he is 99% sure that it is me in the back row, on the right end.
There are mountains, valleys, creeks, lakes, and other physical landmarks, 800 of them, that have one thing in common, they all have the word "squaw" in their names. -taken from Sierra Magazine
It is commonly thought that squaw is an American Indian word for woman. In fact, some language scientists say squaw is an Algonquin word for woman. It is said that squaw is an inarguable slur directed at Indigenous women. Over the centuries it has become a means of using language to demean.
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland vowed to change that. Haaland announced her intention to create a formal process to review and replace derogatory place-names. She also officially classified squaw as offensive and created a federal task force to find names. "Racist terms have no place in our vernacular or on our federal lands."
In my 80+ years I have never heard squaw used in a derogatory sense. I personally don't even think about a woman of any kind when I hear it. To me it is just a name
I am left handed but I am not offended when a pitcher is called a Southpaw while a right handed pitcher is right handed as in right meaning correct. In the far-east I was call a Yankee, which I suppose was meant as demeaning, but I took it as a fact of life.
Mount Evans is a different story. The mountain was named after John Evans who was the Governor of Colorado in 1864 and was rumored to have ordered the Sand Creek Massacre. At the very least his policies toward the Native American contributed to the massacre. 750 volunteers attacked a village of peaceful Indians who had followed Evans' orders explicitly. The cavalry murdered 28 unarmed men and 105 women, children, and old men who were too old to fight.
Colorado is now thinking of whose name should be on the mountain that looms over Denver. It should not be John Evans. In that case the name does make a difference.
Old Class Image
A friend of mine was going through some old pictures. He is not sure who everyone is, but he is 99% sure that it is me in the back row, on the right end.
