Utoo Radio with Other News Sources - November 15, 2024 - California officials have approved the removal of the derogatory term "squaw" from over 30 geographic features and place names on the state's lands.

The move follows a similar move by the U.S. Department of the Interior, which deemed the term offensive, particularly for Indigenous women.

Assembly Bill 2022 banned the use of the term in future location names and ordered the resources agency to rename all places that used the term, including streets, bridges, public buildings, forest fire fuel breaks, and cemeteries.

The renaming will occur in early 2025, following an order from U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland to rename any geographic features or location names on federal lands that use the term.

The California Advisory Committee on Geographic Names scoured maps of California for any uses of the word under state jurisdiction, and the agency partnered with local governments and Native tribes to select new names.

The term originated from the Algonquin language and has been used as a racial stereotype and dehumanizing term for Native American women.