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Squaw Valley Name Change


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SAN FRANCISCO — A popular California ski resort whose name included a derogatory term for Native women changed its name to Palisades Tahoe Monday. Resort officials had begun searching for a new name last year amid a reckoning over racial injustice.

The renaming of Squaw Valley Ski Resort is one of many efforts nationally to address a history of colonialism and oppression against Native people and other people of color that includes removing statues of Christopher Columbus.

The s-word derived from the Algonquin language, may have once simply meant “woman,” but over generations, the word morphed into a misogynist and racist term to disparage Indigenous women, according to experts.

“It was the right thing to do and I think it’s going to make a difference. I think we’re going to be seen as a more welcoming, inclusive resort and community,” said Palisades Tahoe President and COO Dee Byrne.

Byrne said that after studying the issue for the past year the resort’s research concluded the word is very offensive “not just to Indigenous women but to all women.”

The resort is in Olympic Valley, which was known as S-word Valley until it hosted the 1960 Winter Olympics. Tribes in the region had been asking the resort for a name change for decades.

Washoe Tribal Chairman Serrell Smokey said the tribal council expressed “its great appreciation for this positive step forward.”

“There’s been a lot of progress but there’s still a lot of work to be done,” he added. “We need to continue to capitalize on that progress and continue to push forward.”

Smokey said the tribe plans to work with the resort as well as Placer County officials to rename other public places and features in the Olympic Valley that continue to use the derogatory word.

Company officials said the resort’s new logo honors the two legendary mountains that are part of it. And in a nod to the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California, it features an eagle, a symbol of the spiritual world for Native people.

Beyond changing its name, the company said it is partnering with the Washoe Tribe to educate resort guests about tribal culture. This summer, the resort launched the Washoe Cultural Tour series, offering a monthly talk by Cruz. The resort will also install an exhibit on the Washoe way of life.

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