Originally published: February 27 and 22 at 9:15 AM. m. ET
By Sara Smart, (CNN) — The Interior Department is moving forward with eliminating and replacing a derogatory term for Indigenous that has been used for decades in the United States, the branch announced Tuesday.
Home Secretary Deb Haaland issued an order calling for “squaw” an exemption in November. The term has been used as an ethnic, racial and sexist insult to indigenous women, the ministry said in a press release at the time.
Haaland, who is the first Native American to hold the position of cabinet secretary, created a 13-member task force to rename more than six hundred geographic features containing the term through this order.
Now the branch passes to the steps.
The department on Tuesday issued a list of possible replacement names for the geographic sites, and is looking for public comments on the proposed names, according to a news release. The comment period is open through April.
The agency said it has also begun tribal consultations.
“Words matter, particularly in our work to make our nation’s public lands and waters accessible and welcoming to people of all backgrounds.” Haaland said in Thursday’s news release. “Throughout this process, broad engagement with Tribes, stakeholders and the general public will help us advance our goals of equity and inclusion.”
A map created by the Names Task Force shows the locations requiring new names across the country. Places ranging from White Squaw Island in Maine to Squaw Hollow in Oregon will have to be renamed.
The department has already replaced the term with “sq_ _ _” in official communications.
Groups like the Native American Rights Fund have noted the significance of this move.
“It’s the best time for us as a nation to go beyond those pejorative terms and show other Indigenous people, and everyone, equivalent respect,” the fund’s executive director, John Echohawk, said in a news release.
The locations that come with the term are expected to be replaced in a few months.
Some positions have been brought forward with changes. Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows, the hill station used in the 1960 Winter Olympics, replaced its call to Palisades Tahoe in September.
El-CNN-Wire ™
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