Skuaw Valley Ski Resort, shown on Dec. 23, 2008, is now Palisades Tahoe.
In 2025, all 30 geographic formations and locales in California no longer will
include the word “squaw” due to its offensive nature. File photo by
Rennett Stowe/Squaw Valley Ski Resort
Nov. 16 (UPI) — More than 30 geographic formations and locales in California no longer will include the word “squaw” due to its offensive nature.
State lawmakers in 2022 approved and Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law Assembly Bill 2022, which requires the state to identify and remove the word “squaw” from streets, public buildings, bridges, cemeteries and forest fire fuel breaks.
The California Advisory Committee on Geographic Names in February provided state lawmakers with a list of named places and features throughout the state that included “squaw” in their names.
“The term ‘squaw’ has been used historically as an offensive ethnic, racial and sexist slur, specifically towards indigenous women,” the California Natural Resources Agency said in a news release on Feb. 7.
California’s advisory committee sifted through state maps to identify any uses of the word and compile a list of needed name changes.
The list uses the term “sq__” in place of the word “squaw,” and the agency does not use the full word in its communications.
The California Advisory Committee on Geographic Names is working to complete the name changes by the end of the year.
New names will go in place of the ones deemed offensive with the help of aboriginal tribes located within California.
An example of acceptable name changes is the recent re-naming of two streets in West Sacramento to include the aboriginal word “tebti,” which refers to two streams that flow together and traditionally is used as a blessing.
Members of the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation helped local officials determine suitable new names for the two streets and suggested using “tebti.”
The Squaw Valley Alphine Meadows resort, site of 1960 Olympic Games’ events and the village, changed its name to Palisades Tahoe in 2021. The region Squaw Valley was renamed Olympic Valley in 2022.
The U.S. Department of Interior similarly ordered the removal of offensive names from national landmarks and other locations located on federal lands.