Native American residents of Fresno County have campaigned for years to remove the word “Squaw” from the name of the unincorporated town in the Sierra Nevada foothills.

According to many Native Americans, the word is used as a slur and insult against Native women, and is part of a broader perpetuation of violence against women. In 2022, organizers won a victory when the U.S. Department of the Interior redesignated the town as Yokutu Valley for federal use in an effort to remove the “S-word” from federal land. That same year, the California State Legislature passed a bill requiring the term to be removed from place names and geographic landmarks throughout the state by 2025.

But despite securing support from the federal government, state lawmakers and California's governor, Native American activists are frustrated that Fresno County leaders are fighting the name change. . The Board of Supervisors placed a measure on the March ballot asking voters to decide who has the right to name and rename communities and geographic features in the county.

countermeasure There is no particular mention of Yokutu Valley. And some people in the county argue that the town's name was not changed because the federal government had no right to intervene. Measure B clarifies that such decisions are directly in the hands of the County Supervisors and amends the County Charter to authorize the Board to “name or otherwise “name a geographic feature or place within the unincorporated portions of Fresno County.'' “The obligation and authority to make changes.” ” The board voted 3-2 to place it on the ballot.

A group of state legislators who pushed for a 2022 bill to ban the S-word from state landmarks has teamed up with tribal organizers to campaign against Measure B.

“Fresno County is special in that it has been through a very difficult situation,” said Morningstar Galli Executive Director. indigenous justicean organization that tracks California's progress in renaming geographic sites that include the term.

Scholars are grappling with the origin and historical usage of the word. Some say the word originated as a general term for indigenous women. Others, including Galli, argue that the term has taken on a dark tone that denigrates Indigenous women and relegates them to a subhuman status. Merriam-Webster considers this term offensive, outdated, and derogatory.

“Erasure and invisibility, that's what we're fighting against,” Ghali said. “It's not just a word. It's a word that retains its history, its context, its meaning.”

Superintendent Nathan Magsig, who represents Yokutu Valley, pushed for Measure B because he believes “a lot of changes” are happening with little input from people who live in the area where the name change effort is underway. said. A survey he conducted found that the majority of Yokutu Valley residents opposed changing the community's name.

“This is a local issue,” Magsig said. “Measure B not only supports that process, but also relates to other changes happening around us.”

Native Americans who led the name change effort said they were perplexed that county officials were trying to undo an effort that included community input. Roman Lane Tree, a member of the Dunlap Band of Mono Indians with ancestral ties to the area, spearheaded the national petition and filed an appeal with the U.S. Board on Geographical Names.

Magsig “is enraging people, making people angry, continuing the chaos, continuing the chaos,” said Tawea Garcia, a member of the Dunlap Band of Mono Indians. “We understand that some people will not agree with this. We understand that some people will support the name change.”

Official efforts to rename places using the S-word began in 2021, when U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, the first Native American to hold that office, banned the term from federal lands and the Place Names Commission announced more than 660 ordered the renaming of the valley to begin. Lakes, streams, and other federal locations bearing this term. Haaland asserted that the term is derogatory and that this country's lands and waters should be places to celebrate the outdoors and our shared cultural heritage, and that it perpetuates a legacy of oppression. No, he said.

A state law banning the use of the term authorizes the advisory committee to work with local tribes and officials to remove the slur from town and geographic place names by January 1, 2025.

“We oppose this attempt to circumvent lawfully authorized laws,” said U.S. Rep. James C. Ramos (D-Highland), a Native American and author of the bill. mentioned in. “Removing the S-word from place names means choosing not to use derogatory words for women and Native Americans.”

Magsig questions whether the term is really that derogatory, arguing that the bill's 2025 renaming deadline means the valley has not officially been renamed. .

“Is there a name that isn't offensive to anyone?” Magsig said. “A name is an identity for some people. History isn't perfect, sure, but we shouldn't erase it.”

Fresno County is also fighting a legal challenge to change the state's name. The county filed a lawsuit against the state last year, arguing that the name change being forced in Yokuts Valley violates the county's First Amendment free speech rights. A judge ruled that the county lacked legal standing and dismissed the request. The prefecture plans to appeal.

Kenneth HansenA political science professor at California State University, Fresno, said Magsig and other conservative supervisors are using the issue to appeal to the county's Republican base and boost turnout for re-election. Ta. “He's focused on this culture war kind of thing to get through the primary and maybe the general election,” said Hansen, who is Native American. “Measure B is conservative optics.”

Native Americans who are pushing to end the term in Fresno County say the names of towns, grasslands, mountains and lakes should be rooted in respect, not a throwback to oppression. Garcia, who lives in the community of Dunlap, which borders the Yokutu Valley, said naming a town with a derogatory term “doesn't respect Indigenous women.”

Shirley Guevara, an elder with the Dunlap Band of Mono Indians, acknowledged that change has come slowly. A decades-long campaign Asking the Washington, D.C., football team to remove “Redskins” from its name.

Magsig declined to speculate on whether regulators would revert Yokutu Valley to its original name if Measure B passes, or seek an alternative location like Bear Valley, which many residents support. Rejected. For now, he said he is focused on getting the bill passed.

“The next step is to find out what voters want,” he said.