Interior Department identifies North Dakota community as using racial slur, moves to rename it

WASHINGTON — Seven unincorporated communities on federally owned lands, together with one in North Dakota, might be receiving new names as a part of a authorities effort to take away a racial slur from federal lands.

The Division of the Inside introduced Friday that the 13-member Derogatory Geographic Names Job Power, shaped in February, has concluded its evaluation of the greater than 660 geographic options together with the phrase “squaw,” a time period that has traditionally been used as an offensive ethnic, racial and sexist slur, notably for Indigenous ladies.

Along with the already recognized geographic options, together with mountains, lakes, rivers, valleys and extra, the DOI has recognized seven extra unincorporated populated locations that it feels warrants additional evaluation, together with Squaw Hole, North Dakota.
The tiny hamlet of Squaw Hole is situated in western McKenzie County in western North Dakota, close to the Montana border.

The six different areas embrace two in California and one every in Alaska, Tennessee, Texas and Wyoming.

Noting there are distinctive considerations with renaming the websites, the U.S. Board on Geographic Names will hunt down extra evaluation from the native communities and stakeholders earlier than making ultimate determinations.

In February, the Inside Division launched a

public remark interval

to supply suggestions and evaluation of beneficial substitute names. Over 6,600 feedback have been submitted from the general public, with a further 300 feedback gained by nation-to-nation consultations.

Final week, the duty drive supplied substitute identify suggestions to the BGN, which is anticipated to vote on these suggestions in September, at which level a ultimate record might be revealed.

“I’m grateful to the Derogatory Geographic Names Job Power for his or her work to make sure that racist names like sq___ now not have a spot on our federal lands,” Inside Secretary Deb Haaland stated in a press release. “I stay up for the outcomes of the U.S. Board on Geographic Names vote, and to implement modifications as quickly as is cheap.”

Haaland is a member of the Pueblo tribe from New Mexico, and is the primary Indigenous particular person to function a cupboard secretary.

Beneath Haaland’s unique order to analyze altering names, the duty drive solely centered on using the phrase “squaw.” A separate order created a Federal Advisory Committee for the division to formally obtain recommendation from the general public relating to extra derogatory phrases and the method for derogatory identify reconciliation.

The following steps on the standing of that committee might be introduced within the coming weeks.

Although Haaland’s orders solely have an effect on federally owned lands, some states and municipalities have taken the initiative to take away the slur from geographic names.