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August, Maine (AP)
Gov. John Baldacci has signed a bill to tighten Maine’s 9-year-old state law that bars the use of the word “squaw” for official place names. The word is offensive to Native Americans, who say it’s degrading to women.
But since the law was passed, some communities have tried to end-run the restriction by using shorter versions of the word or combining it with another word to form place names. The new law will forbid that.
Gov. John Baldacci has signed a bill to tighten Maine’s 9-year-old state law that bars the use of the word “squaw” for official place names. The word is offensive to Native Americans, who say it’s degrading to women.
But since the law was passed, some communities have tried to end-run the restriction by using shorter versions of the word or combining it with another word to form place names. The new law will forbid that.
