SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Over the past several years, hundreds of places across America have been renamed in an effort to remove a racist term for a Native American woman. Now, the California state government is ordering more of those names on street signs and buildings to be changed.
Local and federal government have worked over the past several years to remove the use of the derogatory word 'squaw.' ABC10 will refer to it as the sq-word throughout the remainder of this story.
ABC10 spoke with Indigenous Justice, who approved using the word just once to explain what it means. It is no longer accepted in their community.
"This was a word that was meant to belittle, dehumanize and perpetuate power over indigenous women. And, diminishing them to a very vulgar word for the female genitalia," said Ashley Crystal Rojas with Indigenous Justice.
Following a federal push to remove the term from geographic features, Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB-2022 into law calling for the removal and replacement of names from any roadway signage or geographical locations that use the sq-word.
"Identifying appropriate and respectful replacement names, particularly replacement names that honor and reflect the California Native American tribes," said Geneva E. B. Thompson with the California Natural Resources Agency.
In partnership with California Native American tribes, the state found the sq-word in dozens of names, including streets in West Sacramento and Sacramento County. The state says the responsibility to change them lies within local governments, and it's up to those governments and agencies to figure out how to pay for those changes.
"In the law, it says when the the city, the county, whatever public agencies in charge of that signage regularly, updates the signs, they will then have to replace it with the new sign," said Thompson.
The state says while this law goes into effect Jan. 1, 2025, the process of changing these names is already underway. All of this is a step towards healing from a painful past.
"In order to really heal from our histories, we have to be honest and tell the truth to repair those harms - and we think that this is a really positive step in that direction," said Rojas.
The California Advisory Committee on Geographic Names will be holding a webinar on Dec. 13 at 1 p.m. to address peoples' concerns on how the changes will impact them. The public is encouraged to attend. You can find more information on it here.
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