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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsA Tahoe Ski Resort Ditches Its Name, Saying It's Racist And Sexist
The famed Squaw Valley ski resort near Lake Tahoe is changing its name, after a long debate and input from Native American tribes. The leadership of the resort, which will now be known as Palisades Tahoe, says, "The old name was derogatory and offensive."
The California resort made the decision to change the name last summer, as many U.S. institutions and communities contemplated the legacy of centuries of racism. In recent decades, several other locations, in states from Minnesota to Oregon, have dropped the term from place names.
In modern usage, the word "squaw" is considered to be "offensive, derogatory, racist, and misogynistic," the resort, formerly known as Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows, said as it explained its reasoning.
The change is being praised by the Washoe Tribe, whose ancestral lands include the valley where the resort is located. The word "doesn't originate from the Washoe people," as Capital Public Radio reported last year.
https://www.npr.org/2021/09/14/1036914217/palisades-tahoe-ski-resort-changes-name-racist-sexist
DBoon
(22,366 posts)Maybe part of the reason for the name change?
tinrobot
(10,900 posts)Steep chutes with lots of powder. I still haven't found the courage to ski off the edge of that one.
tinrobot
(10,900 posts)It used to be Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows.
Now, it is Olympic Valley and Alpine Meadows, which are both part of Palisades Tahoe.
I like that they managed to get around the IOC and have the "Olympic" name in there somewhere. The 1960 Winter Olympics were held there, so they have some right to use that word.
Lunabell
(6,080 posts)We WILL cancel bigoted and hateful culture. We've endured this crap long enough.
Sneederbunk
(14,290 posts)mahatmakanejeeves
(57,446 posts)11 Bravo
(23,926 posts)tirebiter
(2,536 posts)StClone
(11,683 posts)Long-tailed Duck formerly called "Oldsquaw"
As a birder, I was aware of the long tradition of keeping birds' historic names, the spelling of binomial taxonomic names, and even poorly descriptive common names stagnant even if inaccurate. But in the '70s and '80s that became untenable for a flood of reasons. Names of birds both common and Scientific binomials began to feel the pressure of accurate Latin spelling, descriptions, newly described species, AND social sensitivities.
And so, the beloved name Oldsqauw became Long-tailed Duck.
crickets
(25,980 posts)I ran into another article about this last night, with a more in-depth exploration of how the name change came about. It's an interesting read.
https://www.sfgate.com/renotahoe/article/Tahoe-ski-resort-Squaw-Valley-finally-loses-its-16455765.php
The word has no ties to the language of the Washoe Tribe, whose ancestral land encompasses Lake Tahoe and the surrounding region; their word for women is damumóˑʔmoʔ. But it traveled across the country with settlers more than 150 years ago and was used to assert power over Indigenous people. Today, the slur is still displayed prominently in Washoe ancestral land. [snip]
For decades, the Washoe Tribe has been asking the ski resort to change its name. And now, they are welcoming the announcement of Palisades Tahoe. But more than the new name itself, the tribe has expressed gratitude that the slur will be removed from their ancestral land.
Tribal Chairman Serrell Smokey, in a statement, calls the name change a positive step forward.
The Washoe people have lived in the area for thousands of years, said Smokey. We have great reverence for our ancestors, history and lands. We are very pleased with this decision; today is a day that many have worked towards for decades.
Darrel Cruz, historic preservation officer for the Washoe Tribe, gives credit for the decision to change the name of the ski resort to Ron Cohen, the former chief operating officer of the ski resort.
luv2fly
(2,475 posts)Of course Republicans who have never stepped foot in a ski resort are going to complain.