Tribal Officials Applaud Plan to Change Derogatory Names

Tribal officials are applauding the federal government’s plans to change the derogatory names of places in Wisconsin, but some question why it took so long.

U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Deb Haaland recently signed Secretarial Order 3405 that declares “squ–” a derogatory term against Indigenous women and implements a process for replacing the names of places with that term across the country.

The department’s task force identified 28 geographic features in Wisconsin that are named with that term, including lakes and creeks.