US Renames Five Places That Use Racist Slur

The US government has announced name changes for five places whose designations included a racist term for Native American women.

The sites are in the states of California, North Dakota, Tennessee and Texas.  The decision came after a year-long process to remove the racial slur from federal use, the government said.  The sites are the last of almost 650 locations selected by the Department of the Interior to be renamed.

"Words matter, particularly in our work to ensure our nation's public lands and waters are accessible and welcoming to people of all backgrounds," said Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland (photo above), who is the first Native American cabinet secretary in US history.

The word 'squaw' has historically been used as "an offensive ethnic, racial and sexist slur, particularly for Indigenous women", the department said.  Nearly a year ago, Ms Haaland created a task force to replace derogatory names of the nation's geographic features.

She said the panel would serve as a "big step forward in our efforts to remove derogatory terms whose expiration dates are long overdue".

In September, the Department of the Interior - which oversees public lands and is the federal agency that most closely oversees Native affairs - announced a final vote to change the names of hundreds of locations, but left seven places that it said needed to be further reviewed.  READ MORE...