U.S. Interior Survey of 'Derogatory' Site Names Lists One in Berkshires
GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — The U.S. Board of Geographic Names released alternative names on Tuesday for more than 660 natural landmarks that still use the term "squaw," considered an ethnic and misogynistic slur.
Of those, only six are in Massachusetts and one in Berkshire County.
But the name of Squaw Peak in the Monument Mountain Reservation, listed by Interior, was already changed last year by the Trustees of Reservations.
The Trustees worked with the Stockbridge-Munsee Community Band of Mohicans to rename the summit "Peeskawso Peak," which they say means "virtuous woman" in the Mohican language, and the trail leading up to it Mohican Monument Trail, rather than Indian Monument Trail.
The name changes were announced in April 2021, along with changes to the narrative of the mountain that had focused on the famous picnic of authors Nathaniel Hawthorne and Herman Melville in 1850. The signage now includes more on the history of the indigenous people who had lived there first.
This altered framing was repeated throughout the Trustees' 120 conservation and historic sites as part of an internal review process.
BGN offers four possible alternatives of naming for each site and the ones for Peeskawso Peak are bit — head scratching. Three are for bodies of water — Agawam Lake, Agawam Brook, and Konkapot Brook — and one for the mountain gap, Brookside Col. All four of the names already exist as geographic sites in Berkshire County, with the exception of Agawam Lake in New York State.
The reasoning, according to the declaration of U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, was to offer "candidate replacement names drawn from a list of nearby associative topographic features, the names of which are already accepted and in local use."
The suggestions are moot at this point since the peak's name has been changed but there's six more sites in Barnstable, Bristol, Franklin, Norfolk and Plymouth counties.
There are no sites in Vermont, three in Connecticut and 11 in New York State, including Squaw Swamp in Rensselaer County.
Haaland declared the term "squaw" derogatory last November and charged the U.S. Geological Survey with developing the list of locations and suggested replacement names through a task force made up of representatives of Interior and related agencies.
"Words matter, particularly in our work to make our nation's public lands and waters accessible and welcoming to people of all backgrounds. Consideration of these replacements is a big step forward in our efforts to remove derogatory terms whose expiration dates are long overdue," Haaland said in Tuesday's press release on the results of the survey. "Throughout this process, broad engagement with Tribes, stakeholders and the general public will help us advance our goals of equity and inclusion."
Some more famous areas have already made the change, with pricey ski resort Squaw Valley becoming Palisades Tahoe. While in Great Barrington, there's still a bit of a tussle over Squaw Peak Road.
