A bill to ban the word “squaw”—deemed offensive by some to describe Native American women—within California is headed to the governor for final approval after clearing the state Legislature Aug. 25.
If Gov. Gavin Newsom signs it into law, the name “squaw” will be removed from all rivers, markers, and places that use the name beginning in 2024.
Assembly Bill [AB] 2022 passed the Senate unanimously Aug. 25. The bill’s author, Assemblyman James Ramos (D-San Bernardino), the first and only Native American to be elected to the California Assembly, celebrated the approval.
“Hooray! My AB 2022 to ban the use of the ‘S’ word [squaw] in California and establishes a process [for] renaming locations with that offensive racial and sexist term which began as a derogatory word used against Native American women. It now goes to the governor,” Ramos wrote on Twitter….