Indianz.Com > News > Cronkite News: Tribes consulted about offensive place names

Arizona ranks high on states with offensive place names eyed for change
Tuesday, March 29, 2022
Cronkite News
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Arizona could be a primary target when federal officials meet with tribes to talk about possible new names for places that currently contain a slur against Native American women.
With 67 locations that have the word “squaw” in their name, Arizona ranks third among 37 states in a list compiled by the U.S. Geological Survey, trailing only California, with 85, and Idaho, with 72.
Those are some of the 664 places across the U.S. that were the subject of Interior Department virtual consultation sessions with tribes early last week, to consider names that could replace the term that is now considered derogatory.
In Arizona, the locations are in every county but Pima and sit on federal, state, private and tribal lands, including 11 on the Navajo, Fort Apache, San Carlos and Fort Mojave reservations.
“I agree with initiatives to change the names of places that include disparaging racially charged and gendered slurs,” Coconino County Supervisor Lena Fowler said in an emailed statement. “This corrective action of removing all offensive place names is an important step in honoring the humanity of Native American people still here today.”
Note: This story originally appeared on Cronkite News. It is published via a Creative Commons license. Cronkite News is produced by the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.
Related Stories
Nominations open for new Advisory Committee on Reconciliation in Place Names (January 7, 2022)Secretary Haaland takes action against racist and derogatory place names (November 19, 2021)
Advertisement
Search
Filed Under
Tags
More Headlines
A Listening Session on “The ARTIST Act: Updating the Indian Arts and Crafts Act”
Native America Calling: Is Twitter worth the trade-off?
NAFOA opens annual economic development conference in nation’s capital
Senate Committee on Indian Affairs hosts listening session for Indian Arts and Crafts Act
SCOTUSblog: A ‘simple’ Indian law case before the U.S. Supreme Court
Chuck Hoskin: Cherokee Nation continues to rebuild its economy
Native America Calling: Robots help teach STEM and Native languages
New York bans use of Native mascots in public schools
National American Indian Housing Council welcomes new executive director
Native America Calling: Tribal cannabis update from New York to Washington State
Fireworks as Secretary Haaland faces Republican critic on Capitol Hill
ICT won’t post on Twitter due to ‘mistrust’ of social media platform
‘It’s really meaningful to me’: Omaha Nation students visit site of former boarding school
Native America Calling: Tribal gun laws
Native America Calling: Erasing tribes in South Dakota schools
More Headlines
Native America Calling: Is Twitter worth the trade-off?
NAFOA opens annual economic development conference in nation’s capital
Senate Committee on Indian Affairs hosts listening session for Indian Arts and Crafts Act
SCOTUSblog: A ‘simple’ Indian law case before the U.S. Supreme Court
Chuck Hoskin: Cherokee Nation continues to rebuild its economy
Native America Calling: Robots help teach STEM and Native languages
New York bans use of Native mascots in public schools
National American Indian Housing Council welcomes new executive director
Native America Calling: Tribal cannabis update from New York to Washington State
Fireworks as Secretary Haaland faces Republican critic on Capitol Hill
ICT won’t post on Twitter due to ‘mistrust’ of social media platform
‘It’s really meaningful to me’: Omaha Nation students visit site of former boarding school
Native America Calling: Tribal gun laws
Native America Calling: Erasing tribes in South Dakota schools
More Headlines