‘Squaw’ Place Names Are Officially Nixed

Out with the “Squaw,” in with the new, says a state law ordering all counties to rename any lakes, rivers or other geographic features containing the word. Sixteen of 19 places were renamed, but two northern Minnesota counties missed the deadline, and the state Department of Natural Resources said it hopes the matter will be resolved soon. Lake County tried to change its Squaw Creek and Squaw Bay names to “Politically Correct Creek” and “Politically Correct Bay.” The law was passed after Cass Lake High School students traced the word “squaw” to a French corruption of an Iroquois epithet for vagina.