Squaw Creek name being reviewed

Nearly four years after the 2001 Oregon State Legislature passed two bills to eliminate the name "squaw" from geographic names in Oregon, Squaw Creek still doesn't have a new name.

A process may soon be developed in Central Oregon to bring together all concerned parties to develop a recommendation for "squaw" place names in the local area.

"We have yet to all sit down together and we are now in the early stages of working on a process," said Sisters District Ranger Bill Anthony. Many of the local "squaw" names are located on the Sisters Ranger District.

The concerned parties could include the Sisters Ranger District, the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation, Deschutes County and others.

Sisters City Manager Eileen Stein says that the city does not plan to participate in these discussions since "we have more important issues requiring our attention."

However, the city council may review the name finally selected for the creek.

"Squaw" is a term that originated in the Algonquin language. The Algonquin language originally was found from the plains of the Midwest to the eastern seaboard and once included about 30 different dialects.

The term meant "young woman" or "woman" in some cultures.

In other Native American cultures, it may have meant "queen" or "lady." However, over the years, the term has taken on a derogatory meaning that is offensive to some Native Americans today.

A bill passed by the 2001 Oregon Legislature banned "squaw" place names on non-federal public lands in Oregon.

Another bill was a memorial to the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture and the U.S. Secretary of the Interior requesting that they also ban the use of the "s-word" on federal lands in Oregon. The first bill set a deadline of January 2, 2005 or two years after federal agencies banned the word.

"We want to find a way to engage the community in this process," Pajutee said.

"We are not sure yet how this is going to work, but we want to find a name that is satisfactory to the community and respectful of the tribal issue."

Other states besides Oregon have banned the term. These include Maine, Michigan, Montana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and British Columbia in Canada.

Most states are reviewing each place name one at a time, but one frustrated Maine county changed all the "squaw" names to "moose."

In Oregon, anyone can propose a geographic name to the Oregon Geographic Names Board, an affiliate of the U. S. Board of Geographic names and an associate of the Oregon Historical Society.

The Oregon board receives proposals, investigates the history of the place and proposed name, and solicits comments from local residents, local historical organizations, and government agencies. Certain national standards are followed including that it must be pronounceable, capable of being spelled, not be redundant and have some reasonable justification.

The Oregon board develops a recommendation that it forwards to the U.S. Board of Geographic Names, which makes the final decision.

The three tribes of the Warm Springs have submitted a number of names to the Forest Service that they could support in place of Squaw Creek with three different languages involved in these names.

"We have had the Oregon Geographic Names Board look at that list and some of those names are not going to pass because of difficulties in spelling and pronouncing," said Maret Pajutee with the Sisters Ranger District.

Much of the lands through which Squaw Creek flows are lands ceded by the Native Americans in 1855 when the Warm Springs Reservation was established.

In the Sisters area, Squaw Creek has received most of the attention, although there may be as many as 146 place names in Oregon bearing that name, including another 49 Squaw Creeks.

There are 26 Squaw place names on the Deschutes National Forest with eight of those on the Sisters Ranger District.

Besides Squaw Creek, these include Squawback Ridge, Squaw Creek Falls, and Squaw Flat.

In a 2001 survey of "Squaw" place names, the U.S. Geological Survey came up with a total of 928 place names in the United States using the term "squaw."

Oregon led the nation at that time with 98 places, followed by California with 95, Idaho with 73, Arizona with 69 and Montana with 65. Some 22 other states have the name in geographic places. Only 13 states were not using the name, all in the eastern U.S. Oregon's number has since increased to 146.

Some name changes have already taken place in Oregon.

In 1993, last year, the local Squaw Creek Irrigation District changed its name to Three Sisters Irrigation District.

A few years ago, a Squaw Creek in Linn County was changed to Latiwi Creek.