The Squaw Peak Road sign, in Great Barrington, as it looked before it mysteriously disappeared.
A family explores the summit of Monument Mountain last year. The Trustees of Reservations in collaboration with the Stockbridge-Munsee Community Band of Mohican Indians renamed the the summit Peeskawso Peak, which means "virtuous woman" in Mohican. The U.S. Dept. of the Interior announced last week that it had officially renamed nearly 650 place names with the offensive word, "squaw."
A family explores the summit of Monument Mountain last year. The Trustees of Reservations in collaboration with the Stockbridge-Munsee Community Band of Mohican Indians renamed the the summit Peeskawso Peak, which means "virtuous woman" in Mohican. The U.S. Dept. of the Interior announced last week that it had officially renamed nearly 650 place names with the offensive word, "squaw."
GREAT BARRINGTON — The federal government said last week that new names are in place for nearly 650 sites in the U.S. that formerly bore the name “Squaw.”
Those include the former Squaw Peak on Monument Mountain — changed last year to Peeskawso Peak.
The word “squaw” is considered an offensive slur, which is why a Great Barrington street may also be renamed — and soon.
The Squaw Peak Road sign, in Great Barrington, as it looked before it mysteriously disappeared.
Residents of Squaw Peak Road began exploring how to do it and brought their inquiry to town officials earlier this year.
Town Manager Mark Pruhenski said residents of 17 out of 18 households along the road met this summer to discuss a name change. The Select Board will continue the discussion Oct. 3.
“I think we’ll be ready to move forward with a decision very soon now,” Pruhenski said in an email.
A statement from the Department of the Interior said it and its Derogatory Geographic Names Task Force has made a push to change offensive place names. In this case, the effort involved a host of agencies including the Department’s Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement and the National Park Service’s Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Civil Rights.
It also involved Native American leaders and other citizens.
“During the public comment period, the Task Force received more than 1,000 recommendations for name changes. Nearly 70 Tribal governments participated in nation-to-nation consultation, which yielded another several hundred recommendations,” the statement says.
Five locations in Massachusetts were renamed. The full list and a map of sites can be viewed at the U.S. Geological Survey website.
After renaming Peekaswow Peak in Great Barrington last year, the historic preservation manager of the Stockbridge-Munsee Community Band of Mohican Indians said that the word “Squaw” at Monument Mountain had always troubled those for whom the land is still sacred.
Bonney Hartley said the manner of the word’s use over time transformed it into an offense. In Mohican, Peeskawso means “virtuous woman.”
Town resident Jeff Rothenberg initially brought the possibility of renaming Squaw Peak Road up for debate, saying it was “the right thing to do.”
In January, the road sign was sheared from its post and went missing.
Four other place names were changed in Massachusetts, according to the Interior Department.
Squawbetty Hill, a summit, in Bristol County is now Betty Hill; Squaw Rock, an island in Norfolk County, is now Nickerson Rock; the Squaw Island Marshes, a swamp in Barnstable County, is now Halls Island Marshes; and Squaw Island, a cape land formation in Barnstable County, is also now Halls Island Marshes.
Heather Bellow can be reached at hbellow@berkshireeagle.com or 413-329-6871.
Heather Bellow, a member of the investigations team, joined The Eagle in 2017. She is based in the South Berkshire County bureau in Great Barrington. Her work has appeared in newspapers across the U.S.
Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.
Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device.