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squaw
[ skwaw ]
noun
- Older Use: Disparaging and Offensive. a contemptuous term used to refer to a North American Indian woman, especially a wife.
- Slang: Disparaging and Offensive.
- a contemptuous term used to refer to a wife.
- a contemptuous term used to refer to any woman or girl.
squaw
/ skwɔː /
noun
- offensive.a North American Indian woman
- slang.a woman or wife
Sensitive Note
Word History and Origins
Origin of squaw1
Word History and Origins
Origin of squaw1
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.
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.
This year, the State Committee on Geographic Names renamed nine places using the term “squaw” with names proposed by Washington tribes.
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.
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.
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