Babaamaajimowinan (Telling of news in different places)

U.S. Will Rename 660 Mountains, Rivers and More to Remove Racist Word

A task force is identifying new names for sites on federal land that bear a derogatory term referring to Indigenous women

The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) proposed a list of new names for more than 660 geographic features across the country last month, the agency announced in a statement.

Led by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, the first Native American to serve as cabinet secretary, the February 2022 release of the list marks the next step in a sweeping plan to remove the racist and misogynist slur “squaw” from the national geographic landscape. Hundreds of U.S. geographic sites, including mountains, rivers, lakes, remote islands and more, currently are named using the word, report Neil Vigdor and Christine Hauser for the New York Times.

“Words matter, particularly in our work to make our nation’s public lands and waters accessible and welcoming to people of all backgrounds,” said Haaland, per the statement.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/more-than-600-places-in-the-us-will-remove-racist-slur-from-their-names-180979733/?utm_source=smithsoniandaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20220328-daily-responsive&spMailingID=46610751&spUserID=NTkyNzY2ODg1MzgyS0&spJobID=2203110357&spReportId=MjIwMzExMDM1NwS2

 

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