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[source: NativeNews; Sun, 06 Feb 2000 10:46:26]

Panel votes to pull ‘squaw’ off Maine map
                By Emmet Meara, Of the NEWS Staff

AUGUSTA — American Indians celebrated a major step forward Friday
morning when the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee voted 11-1 to approve
a bill which would remove the words ‘‘squaw’’ and ‘‘squa’’ from state
geographical names.

The ‘‘eloquent’’ testimony from numerous female Indians regarding the
offensive nature of the words led to committee approval, according to
Committee Co-Chairman Sen. Susan Longley, D-Liberty.

Longley complimented the ‘‘brave and courageous’’ Indian women who
told the committee during last week’s public hearing of the pain and
suffering the term had caused in their lives. One of the women, Rene
Attean testified that as a young girl growing up on Indian Island she
was ‘‘often called ‘dirty squaw,’ which would reduce me to tears of pain
and anger. As I grew older, I came to realize that many of the town boys
thought ‘squaw’ was synonymous with sex. I came to hate the word
‘squaw’ and the people who used it.’’

Longley said that Attean’s testimony and that of other Indian women,
‘‘turned the tide.’’ Longley expects the bill will pass the Legislature
despite
certain opposition from the Greenville area, home of Squaw Mountain.

Several Greenville residents attended the public hearing to oppose the bill
and the ‘‘politically correct bandwagon’’ which inspired it. The residents
said the term ‘‘squaw’’ was one of respect and honor of the Indian heritage,
not one of insult.

The change will affect 25 places in seven counties, but will not require
private businesses to change their names.

The sponsor of the bill, Passamaquoddy Tribal Rep. Donald G. Soctomah,
said, ‘‘I am very happy with the vote. It gives the native people hope that
our
concerns will be listened to. Ten years ago, this never would have passed.
This has been an educational process. This is not just political correctness.
It has to do with showing human compassion and respecting Native
American females.’’

Once the name of Squaw Mountain is changed, ‘‘I hope we all can look at
the mountain with pride, not with one group resenting the name. I am glad
that the people of Greenville are proud of their heritage. But thousands of
people feel the term is derogatory.’’

White and Indian historians cannot agree on the origin of the term ‘‘squaw,’’
but do agree it did not come from any Maine tribe.

According to a report completed by the Maine Indian Tribal State Commission,
different dictionaries trace the word to different origins, including the
Algonquians or the Narragansett Indians in Massachusetts. The dictionaries
all defined the word as ‘‘often offensive’’ and ‘‘usually disparaging.’’

Both Montana and Minnesota have adopted similar legislation. In Maine,
the proposed legislation was discussed but not included in 1976 when
the Legislature voted to ban the use of the term ‘‘nigger’’ in geographic
names. The Soctomah bill would amend the 1976 measure to add
‘‘squaw’’ and ‘‘squa’’ to the ban.

During Friday’s committee meeting, Donna M. Loring, representative of the
Penobscot Nation, proudly seconded the motion to pass the Soctomah bill,
on the urging of Chairman Longley. The two Indian representatives, however,
are not voting members of the Legislature and thus will not be able to
support the bill when it goes before the House and Senate for final votes.

‘‘This is a big day for Donald, who is a hero to his people,’’ Loring said.
‘‘The important thing is that this will open up communication with the rest
of the population. The word is used as a tool to abuse. I have heard it many
times, never in a complimentary way.’’

The often highly emotional testimony from proponents of the bill last week,
however, failed to convince Rep. G. Paul Waterhouse, R-Bridgton, who cast
the lone vote against the bill Friday.

Last week, Waterhouse asked his constituents at a coffee shop if they
considered the word offensive and all, including an Indian woman, said
they did not. After the vote, Waterhouse said even all Indians could not
agree that the term was offensive. ‘‘If we passed the bill, what are we
saying
to the people of Greenville? That they are racist? That they are bigots?’’

If the tribes had worked with the communities, including Greenville, in a
joint effort to change the names of questionable places on a case-by-case
basis, Waterhouse said, he would have been more supportive.

In other debate on the bill, Longley wanted to invite the tribes and the
Maine
Indian Tribal State Commission to assist in the process of choosing new
place names. But other members of the committee, including Co-Chairman
Rep. Richard H. Thompson, D-Naples, wanted to retain the current system
which leaves that job to county commissioners. Rep. Debra D. Plowman,
R-Hampden, warned against ‘‘micromanaging the process. Let the people
do their jobs.’’

After the committee vote Friday, Soctomah said he would work to have the
mountain renamed Maquaso, in honor of the mother of Chief Kineo.

(Bangor Daily News 2/6/2000)

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