Washingtonians Asked To Help Rename 18 Places With Derogatory Names

SEATTLE — Washington state is asking residents to help come up with new names for 18 geographic features in the Evergreen State.

The 18 locations are from all over Washington, from Pierce County to Jefferson, Chelan to Stevens. All 18 also originally bore a name which, in a recent memo from the Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, was declared derogatory towards Indigenous women. Haaland's decision means it cannot be used in names for federal lands.

"Racist terms have no place in our vernacular or on our federal lands. Our nation’s lands and waters should be places to celebrate the outdoors and our shared cultural heritage – not to perpetuate the legacies of oppression,” Haaland said.

Over 650 place names across the country include the term, NPR reported. Originally, it was believed to just be the Algonquin word for "woman" but it's use in popular culture over the past hundred years have morphed it into a sexist and racist slur, critics argue. Before Haaland's order, several states like Oregon and Maine had already banned its use.

To fix the issue, the Washington State Committee on Geographic Names has opened a 60-day public comment period, offering everyday Washingtonians a chance to submit replacement names for the 18 locales. Comments will be accepted via email through April 25.

As The Seattle Times notes, this will be far from the first time Washington has updated a name to match the shifting times. King County was originally named for former vice president William Rufus de Vane King, but was re-dedicated to Martin Luther King Jr. in 2005 as a response to de Vane King's history as a slave owner. Last year, the Puyallup Tribe launched a campaign to rename Mount Rainier "Mount Taquoma"— its original name in the Native language Twulshootseed.

It's also not the first time a Secretary of the Interior has taken action to remove derogatory names from American landmarks: back in 1974 the Board on Geographic Names formally recognized a slur attacking Japanese Americans as derogatory and struck it from federal lands.