Ceremony celebrates new names for old places

Sen. Carol Juneau, D-Browning, speaks to a capitol crowd gathered to celebrate the passage of a law 10 years ago that led to changing the names of dozens of Montana places. (Photo by Molly Priddy)


HELENA – A large crowd gathered in the capitol today to celebrate the 10th anniversary of a state law that removed the word “squaw” from the names of many Montana land features.

Sen. Carol Juneau, D-Browning, was touted by every speaker at the “Old Places – New Names” ceremony as the driving force behind the legislation.

“It’s been a wonderful, wonderful effort to make Montana a better place to live for our citizens by taking this ugly word off our beautiful mountains and streams,” Juneau told listeners.

Some of the renamed formations included Ch-paa-qn (Shining Peak) near Missoula, formerly called Squaw Peak; Stands Alone Woman Peak near Glacier, formerly called The Old Squaw; and Too-nah-hin Creek in Cascade County, formerly called Squaw Creek.

After House Bill 412 passed in 1999, a committee was formed to implement the law. Its members learned that 76 features required name changes.

School children, county commissioners and tribal leaders all helped locate features that should be renamed and also suggested new names. Now, 10 years later, some of the 76 names have yet to be finalized, Juneau said.

One of the first changes was Squaw Gulch near Helena. It is now called Wakina Sky Gulch, a name suggested by the school kids at Wakina Sky Learning Center in Helena.

Juneau said the changes were necessary because of the matriarchal nature of many American-Indian cultures. She cited the importance in a Cheyenne proverb: “A nation is not conquered until the heart of its women is on the ground. Then it is done, no matter how brave its warriors or how strong their weapons.”

Today's ceremony at the capitol began with the lighting of tobacco and a Cree prayer from Henry Anderson, a Little Shell-Cree elder. Jennifer Perez Cole, the state coordinator of Indian Affairs, also welcomed visitors to the event.

In her speech, Juneau said the achievements of the 1999 HB 412 Committee were especially honorable because everyone worked on a volunteer basis.

“This bill passed without a budget,” Juneau said. “They wanted to make Montana a better place to live.”

Other members of the 1999 committee, Senate Minority Leader Carol Williams, D-Missoula, and Rep. Diane Sands, D-Missoula, spoke about their experiences.

Williams became teary as she spoke about the committee’s efforts over the past decade. She said she hoped a landmark will be named after Juneau in the future.

Sands also became emotional at the lectern when speaking about the accomplishments of the law and the importance names carry.

“Of all the bills and issues I’ve worked on, this one means the most to me,” Sands said. “Words do have meaning and words have power.”

Sands and Williams presented Juneau with a wool Pendleton blanket as a thank-you gift. The Soldier Gulch Drum Group played several traditional songs, including a women’s honor song, as the lawmakers passed out braids made from sweetgrass to the original committee members.

Rep. Carolyn Pease-Lopez, D-Crow Agency, said she was thankful for the committee efforts as she performed the event’s closing prayer.

“Words are containers, and they can release good or bad,” Pease-Lopez said. She prayed for the release of only good things from now on.

“Today,” Pease-Lopez said, “Is a good day to be an Indian woman.”

- by CNS correspondent Molly Priddy