Squaw Valley to discuss removing slur against Native Americans from California resort’s name
The owners of Squaw Valley near Lake Tahoe are inviting Native American leaders to discuss the use of the ethnic and sexist slur in its name, as the movement to remove symbols of colonialism and indigenous oppression has grown throughout the country.
Christine Horvath, a representative from Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows, said in an email that the business is currently creating a plan to review the use of the term “squaw” and invite regional tribal leaders to provide guidance.
“Of course, what’s going on right now prompted us to say, ‘Look, we really need to take a look at this, and we need to get everyone involved,’ ” Horvath said. She emphasized that this was just the start of a conversation about the use of the word.
“The term is used by several area businesses as well as state and federal agencies for locations in the Olympic Valley region and as such, these groups should be involved in the discussion,” she said.
Changing the name of Squaw Valley, one of the most prominent resorts in the country, would represent a seismic shift in attitudes about the Lake Tahoe resort, just as protests over the killing of George Floyd have sparked a nationwide conversation about racist symbols and Confederate place names.
The name of the valley itself was changed to “Olympic Valley” in 1960, in honor of the Winter Olympics that took place at the resort. But Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows, the resort, remains the same despite previous efforts to reconsider the use of the word.
More than a decade ago, the Resort at Squaw Creek held a summit for stakeholders to discuss the use of the term. The conversation included input from Native American leaders, Horvath said. But ultimately, the name remained.
Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows is part of the Alterra Mountain Company, which includes a dozen resorts in the U.S. and Canada controlled by KSL Capital Partners, a $8.2 billion private equity group. Alterra also owns Mammoth Mountain and Big Bear in California.
More than 100 places across California have “squaw” in their official name, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The word shows up on California maps attached to creeks, rocks, and gulches.
And establishments in the Village at Squaw Valley — Oakley at Squaw, Patagonia at Squaw, Squaw Bikes, Squaw Creek Sports, Squaw Valley Outfitters, Squaw Valley Rentals, and Squaw Dogs — are not shy about using the name.
Beth Piatote, a professor of Native American studies at Berkeley, said that the word “squaw” has been a part of the legacy of violence against Native Americans.
“Squaw, which is a word I hardly can say, is basically like the c-word. It is a reference to an Indian woman who is disposable,” said Beth Piatote, an associate professor of Native American studies at UC Berkeley.
“So for people to casually wear Squaw Valley sweatshirts, and go there for vacation, and never have a thought, a single thought, that there’s anything wrong with that word, is to erase all of the violence that has been done by that word, through that word, in the past and in the present.”
Piatote pointed toward the epidemic of murdered and missing indigenous women as an example of the way that the word “squaw” presents indigenous women as disposable.
“If we want to say that this word is harmless, then we shouldn’t be having this epidemic,” said Piatote.
Growing movement to remove slur from place names
The movement to remove the word “squaw” from place names is decades old. In 1995, a group of students from Cass Lake-Bena High School in northern Minnesota convinced the Minnesota legislature to remove the slur “squaw” from the names of 19 places throughout the state.
Since then, that movement has expanded across many states, including Maine, Montana, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Idaho, South Dakota and Oregon. The mayor of Phoenix this week said she wanted to change the name of a street there, Squaw Peak Drive.
Frog Woman Rock on highway 101, 6 miles north of the Sonoma-Mendocino County Line, was named Squaw Rock until the California Office of Historic Preservation renamed it in 2011.
Darrel Cruz, the director for the Tribal Historic Preservation Office for the Washoe tribe of Nevada and California, has been involved with efforts to remove the word “squaw” from names before. In 2018, his committee helped to rename “Squaw Ridge” in Sierra Nevada to “Hungalelti Ridge,” a Washoe word which means “up there,” and can also mean “Southern Washoe”.
“The term ‘squaw’ was used, actually, throughout history in America to dehumanize the native people,” Cruz said. “By dehumanizing them and attaching a name to them like this, it allows them, in their minds, to be able to commit crimes against them without any guilt. Because they’re no longer a person, they’re a ‘squaw,’ they’re a name.”
Cruz said that he would be happy for the resort to change the name to something like “Olympic Valley,” a name that represents the recent history of the place. His committee has worked with Placer County officials to remove the word “squaw” from public buildings.
“If we can get Squaw Valley re-done, or Squaw Resort, or any of that up there,” Cruz said, “I think I can retire happy.”
This story was originally published June 19, 2020 at 1:02 PM with the headline "Squaw Valley to discuss removing slur against Native Americans from California resort’s name."