GREAT BARRINGTON — After hearing from several neighborhood residents last night, the Great Barrington Selectboard has agreed to look into changing a street name deemed offensive to Indigenous peoples.
Town Manager Mark Pruhenski had heard earlier from neighbors on Squaw Peak Road inquiring about a name change and subsequently wrote a brief letter to them announcing “a virtual neighborhood meeting” to be held during the January 24 selectboard meeting. Five residents spoke in favor of the name change, while three were against it.
Jeffrey Rothenberg, who lives at 18 Squaw Peak Road, approached the board “a few months ago,” said board chair Steve Bannon, who added that the board would not make a decision right away.
See video below of last night’s selectboard meeting. Fast forward to 37:30 for the discussion of the proposed name change:
“I really came to appreciate in recent years that the word ‘squaw’ is widely considered to be a derogatory and pejorative word, especially to members of the tribal communities,” Rothenberg said.
Rothenberg pointed to U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, who in November declared “squaw” to be a derogatory term and ordered a task force to find replacement names for valleys, lakes, creeks, and other sites on federal lands that use the word.
Haaland, the first Indigenous cabinet secretary and a member of New Mexico’s Laguna Pueblo tribe, said in a news release announcing the move, “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.”
The origin of the word “squaw” has been traced to the Algonquian language, in which it meant simply “woman.” But its meaning was skewed by centuries of use by white people, including colonists in the 1600s, NPR reported. “The term has historically been used as an offensive ethnic, racial, and sexist slur, particularly for Indigenous women,” the Interior Department said.
In 2020, California’s Squaw Valley Ski Resort, the site of the 1960 Winter Olympics, announced that, after consulting with Native American groups and conducting extensive research into the etymology and history of the word, it would change the name of the resort, which is now called Palisades Tahoe.
Closer to home, the Trustees of Reservations announced it has officially changed two names related to its Monument Mountain site in Great Barrington, after working closely with the Indigenous descendants of the people who once called the area home. Indian Monument Trail has been renamed “Mohican Monument Trail” and Squaw Peak is now called “Peeskawso Peak,” which means “virtuous woman” in the Mohican language.
These changes were discussed at great length and approved by the Stockbridge-Munsee Community Band of Mohicans, who collaborated with The Trustees for more than a year in general acknowledgement that the term “Indian” is considered offensive, and “squaw” is an ethnic and sexist slur.
“So, as a proud resident of Great Barrington and a homeowner on our street since 2013, it’s an important and reasonable time to align with what’s happening in the world around us and to consider renaming Squaw Peak Road as something that would be less offensive,” Rothenberg said.
Rothenberg said he had been in touch with Heather Bruegl, the former director of cultural affairs for the Stockbridge-Munsee Community, and she readily endorsed the name change for Squaw Peak Road.
Squaw Peak Road residents Mary Eastland, Jonathan Fertel, and Natacha Dockery Livak also spoke in favor of the renaming. Livak suggested calling the street “Peak Road,” while Eastland preferred “Rocky Hill Road” for the abundance of stone on Squaw Peak Road, a cul-de-sac of some 18 homes on generous lots off North Plain Road (Route 41).
Kimberly Moore, who has lived in the neighborhood since 1981, complained of the inconvenience of the name change, especially for older residents who aren’t accustomed to being online. The address change would have to be made for numerous accounts, in addition to the alteration of legal documents such as deeds, wills, trusts, and bank accounts. “Who is going to incur the expense of these changes and who has the time to take this on when we’re all busy?” Moore asked.
Linda Josephs decried the proposed name change as “politically correct” and the logistics of the alteration as “a nightmare,” while Moore characterized the move to change the name of Squaw Peak Road as a manifestation of the culture of the “woke,” which critics view as hypersensitivity to social injustice, especially racism.
Fertel noted that Squaw Peak Road is currently without a street sign, the absence of which has created some confusion for motorists who are unfamiliar with the area. “So I think from a timing standpoint, the sooner we can come to an agreement and not replace something that would have to be replaced again, it may make sense,” Fertel said.
In a brief interview, Moore said the Squaw Peak Road sign disappeared in the last couple of weeks and she has no idea who did it or precisely when it was removed. An Edge site visit revealed that the sign post was severed about halfway up and there was no evidence that the sign itself was anywhere on the ground nearby.
The tip of the pole section still in the ground was jagged, charred and appeared to have been burned and perhaps melted. Sean VanDeusen, who heads the town Department of Public Works, told The Edge that he, too, had no idea when the sign was removed or how.
Bannon said at a future meeting, the board will outline the process involved in a proposed road name change, which might even include a public hearing. “Once we learn the process, the selectboard will discuss this and make a decision whether they’re interested in moving forward with this,” Bannon explained.
Meanwhile, Pruhenski will send follow-up letters to the 18 homeowners on Squaw Peak Road.
