Haaland seeks to rid the U.S. of derogatory place names
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. >> U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland on Friday formally declared “squaw” a derogatory term and said she is taking steps to remove it from federal government use and to replace other derogatory place names.
Haaland is ordering a federal panel tasked with naming geographic places to implement procedures to eliminate what she called racist terms from federal use. The decision provides momentum to a movement that has included the dismantling of other historical markers and monuments considered offensive across the country.
“Our nation’s lands and waters should be places to celebrate the outdoors and our shared cultural heritage — not to perpetuate the legacies of oppression,” Haaland said in a statement. “Today’s actions will accelerate an important process to reconcile derogatory place names and mark a significant step in honoring the ancestors who have stewarded our lands since time immemorial.”
The first Native American to lead a Cabinet agency, Haaland is from Laguna Pueblo in New Mexico.
The U.S. Senate on Thursday confirmed Charles F. “Chuck” Sams III as head of the National Park Service, making him the first Native American to hold that position. Haaland previously said Sams, who is Cayuse and Walla Walla, of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Oregon, would be an asset as the administration works to make national parks more accessible to everyone.
The Native American Rights Fund applauded Haaland’s move to address derogatory place names, saying action by the federal government is long overdue.
“Names that still use derogatory terms are an embarrassing legacy of this country’s colonialist and racist past,” said John Echohawk, the group’s executive director. “It is well past time for us, as a nation, to move forward, beyond these derogatory terms, and show Native people — and all people — equal respect.”
Environmentalists also praised the action, saying it marked a step toward reconciliation.