Tribes to propose name changes to eliminate ‘squaw’

The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation are compiling a list of place names in Northeastern Oregon that include the word “squaw,” and suggesting replacement names that are taken from the tribal language.

The Umatilla Tribes intend to submit a list of proposed replacement names for about 45 places to the Oregon Geographic Names Board either this fall or next spring.

The board meets twice a year.

At least two, and as many as five, of the 45 places are in Baker County, according to a public notice from the Umatilla Tribes, which are based in Pendleton.

The list of places is only a draft, and is subject to change, said Jennifer Karson Engum, a cultural anthropologist and ethnographer for the Umatilla Tribes.

Any changes approved by the Oregon Geographic Names Board would be forwarded to the U.S. Board of Geographic Names, which has the final authority on the matter.

Proposals for Baker County

• Squaw Gulch, north of Richland — proposed new name, Tekpe’s Gulch, which means “draw water”

• Squaw Creek, which flows into Powder River just south of Richland — proposed new name, Haawpa Creek, which means “at rapids”

Tribal officials are working with the Forest Service and U.S. Geological Survey to figure out a discrepancy on the Tribes’ draft list, which shows three “squaw” sites as being in Baker County, except the legal description puts those places outside the county.

The county with the most sites on the draft list is Grant, with 15, following by Wallowa County with 11.

There are also places in Harney, Malheur, Morrow, Union and Umatilla counties.

Karson Engum said Umatilla officials have been working since 2000 on a study of the place names tribal members have used for centuries.

That’s a challenge, she said, since tribal traditions are typically oral rather than written.

“There’s no real cultural tradition in the tribes of using maps,” she said.

Researchers have pored over field notes, some more than 100 years old, kept by anthropologists who studied tribes.

Complicating the task is the tribes’ tendency to name not only prominent features such as mountain peaks, but also small streams and areas where Indians fished, hunted and camped, Karson Engum said.

White settlers affixed “squaw” to some of those places after seeing an Indian woman or women working there, she said.

In approximately half of the 45 sites on the draft list, Umatilla officials have found a name that tribal ancestors used.

In other cases officials will suggest a replacement name that’s appropriate to the setting, such as a word meaning “water” for a stream or a place near a creek, Karson Engum said.

Written comments on the Umatilla Tribes’ proposed name changes must be postmarked by Sept. 3, and can be mailed to Teara Farrow Ferman, program manager, Cultural Resources Protection Program, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, 46411 Timine Way, Pendleton, OR 97801. You can also e-mail comments to Ferman at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it