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

While his daughter Kick Kennedy likely did not intend the anecdote to be controversial when she shared it with Town & Country Magazine in 2012, the Washington D.C.-based Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund claims Kennedy committed a felony by transporting the skull from the beach of Squaw Island in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts across state lines.

From Salon

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

It’s also notable that Cortina organized a bobsled world championships in 1960 when the local organizing committee for the Squaw Valley Olympics decided not to build a track because only nine nations were going to compete.

From Seattle Times

The resort adopted its current name in 2021 after acknowledging that its former name, Squaw Valley, included a “racist and sexist slur” whose use is “contrary to our company’s values.”

From New York Times