The Department of the Interior recently established a Derogatory Geographic Names Task Force, announcing a list of candidate replacement names for more than 660 geographic features with the name “sq**w”. The DOI has initiated tribal consultations, as well as a public comment period to recommend and review proposed replacement names, which concludes on April 25, 2022.
In the context of national and global reckoning with the legacy and ongoing impacts of colonialism, imperialism and racial injustice, we have a once in a generation opportunity to inscribe our social values on official maps for the future generations.
Sign this petition to encourage the Department of the Interior to take its inquiry a step further, to not only rename the most offensive landmarks, but also to give over the authority for naming to the Indigenous Nations whose lands were dispossessed in the making of the National Parks.
