Anchorage Daily News

WASILLA -- A Cantwell woman hopes to change what she calls the "terrible" name of Squaw Creek in the Upper Susitna Valley to one that better fits the area's Athabascan roots.

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The creek flows five miles from the boggy foothills of the Alaska Range into the middle fork of the Chulitna River, 18 miles south of Cantwell and 45 miles southwest of Denali National Park and Preserve.

Arlene Drashner has asked the Alaska Historical Commission to change the name from Squaw -- which she considers derogatory -- to Tsaani, which translates to "grizzly bear" from Athabascan.

Drashner -- one of 1,200 shareholders of Ahtna Inc., the regional native corporation for eight villages including Cantwell -- got the idea last summer while looking over maps for a job.

"I was offended by the name and wanted it changed," she wrote in an e-mail to the Daily News. "Its definition is a slam to women and is degrading.

A decision on the name-change proposal could come this year.

Generally the state applauds the use of recognized Alaska Native names for places where appropriate, said state historian Jo Antonson.

"The Alaska Legislature passed a directive, saying that's something they encourage," Antonson said. "But I just think it's the right thing to do."

The word "squaw" has been considered derogatory in recent years, thought by Native linguists to refer to female genitalia.

But many scholars have written that the word simply stems from an Algonquin expression that means woman.

Still, most seem to agree, any word that sets apart minority women is offensive.

There are 1,168 landforms identified by the name "squaw" in the United States and its territories, according to the U.S. Board on Geographic Names.

Minnesota in 1995 ordered all counties to rename places with the "squaw" moniker, though one county protested with replacement names such as "Politically Correct Creek."

The name of Arizona's Squaw Peak was changed in 2003 to Piestewa Peak to honor Lori Ann Piestewa, a Hopi and the first female soldier killed in combat in Iraq.

How the Squaw Creek questioned by Drashner came to be named such is not clear. The U.S. Geological Survey listed that name starting in 1951, according to the Dictionary of Alaska Place Names, which offers no other clues into the appellation.

Drashner said village elders told her "perhaps the terrible name given to this creek was given by a miner a long time ago and the locals may not have been aware of it at that time."

If successful, her quest won't erase other squaw-labeled landforms around the state.

There are at least a dozen, among them Squaw Crossing Slough on the Yukon River near Tanana, Squaw Bay near Valdez, and another Mat-Su Squaw Creek -- this one behind Sheep Mountain southwest of Eureka.

The state has received no requests to change any of the other Squaw landforms, at least not in the last 15 years.

Zack Steer, owner of Sheep Mountain Lodge, said he's heard nothing about the name of the local Squaw Creek, which holds some gold mines as well as hiking and biking trails.

Alaska is no stranger to disputes over place names, however.

An Ohio congressman for years squelched any bid to change the name of Mount McKinley to Denali, an Athabascan word alternately said to mean "The Big One" or "The Great One" or "The High One." President William McKinley was from Ohio.

Meanwhile, Drashner's request is gaining speed.

The Matanuska-Susitna Borough's planning commission unanimously approved the name change Monday with little discussion.

Next the Alaska Historical Commission meets Feb. 19 in Juneau to consider the proposal. If approved, the commission forwards the decision to the federal geographic board.

A decision on the federal level could come within six or eight months, Antonson said. Then it could be some years before the change shows up on USGS maps, she said.

Drashner hopes other people request name changes so that more Squaw creeks-- and bays and sloughs -- come to disappear.

"I think Native Alaskan names should be used just like they do in Hawaii," she wrote. "I also think that this can be a learning experience ... especially when there is now a concern that the culture may be lost if something isn't done soon."

Find Zaz Hollander online at adn.com/contact/zhollander or call 352-6711.

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