Tribe approves 42 words to replace 'squaw'

What's in a name? photo by Jim Cornelius BEND, Ore. (AP) -- The word "squaw" has long been considered an offensive term for women by American Indians.

Yet that is the name of Squaw Creek, which traverses the ancestral land of the Warm Springs tribe. Now, after years of internal debate, the Warm Springs Tribal Council has finally approved a list of 42 words that could be used to rename the creek and other nearby squaw place names.

The tribal council of Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs, which is comprised of the Wasco, Paiute and Warm Springs tribes, passed a resolution last week accepting the translation of 15 of the 42 words into the three distinct languages of their people.

Although the tribes have long wanted to change the creek's name, this is the first time the tribal council has approved a list of possible replacements, said Bobby Bruno, the tribes' director of natural resources.

The names were decided by a group of tribal elders, Bruno said.

They include the words for animals, plants and physical features that can be found near the creek.

To balance the formerly offensive name, the tribes also made sure to include positive references to women, said Sally Bird, an archaeologist for the tribes.

The word laughing was included to signify "happy women working together." Translated it appears as akayaulal in Wasco, ti-yat in Sahaptin, the language of the Warm Springs tribe, and soowi'ena in Paiute.

Although the creek doesn't flow through the reservation, it does run through the ceded lands of the Warm Springs tribes.

That means the tribes may get preference when the Oregon Geographic Names Board chooses the name, said Champ Vaughan, president of the names board.

The board will also listen to input from the U.S. Forest Service and city of Sisters, Vaughan said.

But Sisters City Manager Eileen Stein said some of the names the tribes submitted may be too difficult to pronounce.

Several of the Wasco names use unconventional symbols, such as an "l" with a diagonal line through it, that aren't included in most word processing programs.

Bird, the tribe's archaeologist, counters that even spellings that seem difficult can be pronounced by non-Indians. "What I don't want them to do is to discount Wasco words because they think they're unpronounceable," Bird said, noting that "wixat," the Wasco word for road, is pronounced "wicut."

Once the Oregon board makes its decision, the U.S. Geographic Names board will take six to 12 months to give final approval, Vaughan said.

Because of that lag time, it's unlikely the tribes will meet an Oregon deadline for changing the squaw names.

In the Deschutes National Forest, there are 26 squaw place names.