WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 15: U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland delivers remarks at the 2021 Tribal Nations Summit, at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on November 15, 2021 in Washington, DC.
The summit, which coincides with national Native ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - Federal officials have come up with a list of potential replacement names for hundreds of geographic features in three dozen states that include the word "squaw," kicking off a public comment period that will run through late April.U.S.
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland in November formally declared the term derogatory and initiated a process to remove the word from use by the federal government and to replace other existing derogatory place names.Haaland said in a statement Tuesday that words matter, particularly as the agency works to make the nation’s public lands and waters accessible and welcoming to people of all backgrounds.RELATED: Rep.
Deb Haaland, Biden's pick for interior secretary, will be 1st Native American in post"Consideration of these replacements is a big step forward in our efforts to remove derogatory terms whose expiration dates are long overdue," she said. "Throughout this process, broad engagement with tribes, stakeholders and the general public will help us advance our goals of equity and inclusion."Experts have said the word "squaw," derived from the Algonquin language, may have once simply meant "woman," but over time it morphed into a term used to disparage Indigenous women.