Last summer, as many companies and institutions across the US contemplated the legacies of racism in their own cultures, one Northern California ski resort decided it was time to retire their derogatory name in favor of a more inclusive title.
After months of discussion and input from Native American tribes, the Lake Tahoe resort previously known as Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows will now be called Palisades Tahoe. According to the resort, the change is being made because the use of the word “squaw” is “offensive, derogatory, racist, and misogynistic.”
The change was met with praise from the local Washoe Tribe, whose ancestral lands part of the resort sits on. Darrel Cruz of the Washoe Tribe Historic Preservation Office said, “The word itself is a constant reminder of the unjust treatment of the native people, of the Washoe people.”
Fresno County’s Squaw Valley, another area of California that uses the term, has also proposed changing its name, but no decision has been made on the issue.
