Feds issue list of new names for geographical locations

Squaw Teat Butte is the only geographic location in Hot Springs County included on the U.S. Department of Interior’s list of 643 federal geographical locations nationwide and 41 on Wyoming federal lands that have been assigned new names that include the word “Squaw.” The new name is Sugar Butte.

The Board on Geographic Names (BNG) recently voted on the final replacement names, the final step in the efforts to remove a term from federal use that is considered offensive and a sexist slur by some, particularly Indigenous women.

The final vote reflects a months-long effort by the Derogatory Geographic Names Task Force established by Secretary’s Order 3404, which included representatives from the Department’s Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, National Park Service, Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Civil Rights, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, and the U.S. Geological Survey and the Department of Agriculture’s U.S. Forest Service.

Nearly 70 Tribal governments participated in nation-to-nation consultation.

New names of geographic locations in other area counties include:

Fremont: Squaw Butte is now Muskrat Butte, Squaw Lake is now Marys Lake, Squaw Creek is now Popo Agie Creek, Squaw Creek shared by Fremont and Teton County is now Fireweed Creek and South Fork Squaw Creek is now South Fork Popo Agie Creek

Park: Squaw Peak is now Kuchunteka’a Toyavi, Squaw Teats is now Crow Woman Buttes, Squaw Creek is now Kuchunteka’a Naokwaide, Squaw Creek (A higher elevation) is now North Fork Hoodoo Creek

Washakie: Squaw Creek is now High Park Creek

The full list of names can be found on the U.S. Geological Survey website.