Steven E. Silvern, Mount Holyoke College. s_silvern@hotmail.com

Place Names and the Politics of Indigenous Identities.

Across North America, from Maine to British Columbia, indigenous communities have lobbied state and provincial legislatures to eliminate and replace the word "squaw" from official/state maps. In this presentation, I examine the complex identity and cultural politics surrounding the replacing or banishing of the word squaw, or the "s-word," from the landscape of official and unofficial place names. As an example of a "carto-controversy," the contest over defining squaw and renaming squaw place names reveals the complex role of place in the construction of indigenous identities and in indigenous peoples' efforts to reclaim and de-colonize the landscapes of North America. In this presentation, I describe legislative efforts to ban and replace squaw place names. I place these efforts within the ongoing debate over the meaning and origins of the word squaw. I examine the disagreement within indigenous communities, and between indigenous and non-indigenous people over the meaning of squaw and whether or not squaw place names should be banned, replaced or preserved.

Keywords: indigenous people, place names, cultural identity.