squaw

[ skwaw ]

noun

1. Older Use: Disparaging and Offensive. a contemptuous term used to refer to a North American Indian woman, especially a wife.
2. Slang: Disparaging and Offensive.
   1. a contemptuous term used to refer to a wife.
   2. a contemptuous term used to refer to any woman or girl.

squaw

/ skwɔː /

noun

1. offensive.
   a North American Indian woman
2. slang.
   a woman or wife

Sensitive Note

It can be very offensive when members of the dominant culture appropriate piecemeal bits of language to imitate or perform impressions of an ethnic or racial minority. Borrowed words like firewater, squaw, and wigwam, or imitative words like how were once used for comedic effect, but they are now considered insensitive to Native Americans and their cultures.

Word History and Origins

Origin of squaw¹

An Americanism dating back to 1625–35; from Massachusett ( English spelling) squa, ussqua “woman, younger woman,” from Proto-Algonquian eθkwe·wa (unattested)

Word History and Origins

Origin of squaw¹

C17: of Algonquian origin; compare Natick squa female creature

Example Sentences

Officials have approved the removal of the derogatory term “squaw” from more than 30 geographic features and place names on California lands, according to an announcement Friday by the state Natural Resources Agency.

From Los Angeles Times

For years, Native American residents in Fresno County have campaigned to remove the word “squaw” from the name of an unincorporated town in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada.

From Los Angeles Times

This year, the State Committee on Geographic Names renamed nine places using the term “squaw” with names proposed by Washington tribes.

From Seattle Times

The renamed sites are in California, North Dakota, Tennessee and Texas, completing a yearlong process to remove the historically offensive word “squaw” from geographic names across the country.

From Seattle Times

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, the nation’s first Native American cabinet official, formally declared “squaw” a derogatory term and announced steps to remove it from federal government use and rename other derogatory place names.

From Seattle Times