Oregon lawmakers are working to expedite the renaming process for numerous creeks, lakes, mountains, and other sites that currently bear offensive names. The Oregon Senate is set to consider House Bill 3532, which proposes that the Oregon Geographic Names Board, advised by the Oregon Historical Society, compile a list of locations with offensive names within three years of the bill’s passage. The board will also consult with local governments and tribes to determine appropriate new names.
Presently, anyone can suggest a renaming to the board, but the process is often lengthy. Kerry Tymchuk, the executive director of the Oregon Historical Society, explained to the Oregon Capital Chronicle that after receiving a suggestion, the board must conduct site visits, research the area’s history, and engage with tribes, local officials, and landowners for input. Additionally, any name changes must receive federal approval.
The Oregon Historical Society has identified 107 locations across the state with offensive names that remain unchanged. Many of these names include derogatory terms aimed at Black individuals, immigrants, and Native American women, such as Squaw Creek in Douglas County, Chinaman Hat in Josephine County, and Cannibal Mountain in Lincoln County.
The Oregon House has already passed the bill with a 45-3 vote, and the Senate is expected to consider it in the coming days or weeks before it reaches the governor’s desk. Similar legislative efforts have been undertaken in Texas, Maine, and California in recent years.
These state initiatives gained traction after the Biden administration established a commission in 2021 to eliminate offensive names from federal lands, officially designating the term “squaw” as derogatory. The administration replaced 650 locations with that term with names that honor Native American history and culture.
However, under the Trump administration, there were concerns among some lawmakers about whether the federal government would approve name changes. In February, a Democratic lawmaker in Maine withdrew a similar bill, citing conflicting federal and local perspectives, as reported by the Maine Morning Star.
This decision was influenced by Trump’s first executive order on his first day in office, which sought to override the U.S. Board of Geographic Names’ authority and called for changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to “Gulf of America” while reverting the name of North America’s highest peak from Denali back to Mount McKinley. Denali, meaning “the great one” in the Koyukon language, is significant to the local Alaskan Native community, whereas Mount McKinley was named after the 25th President, who had no ties to Alaska.
House Bill 3532 builds on legislation from 2001, introduced by then-Sen. Kate Brown, which aimed to remove the word “squaw” from location names. Despite that earlier effort, the term continues to appear in many Oregon locations. Brown, who served as Oregon’s governor from 2015 to 2023, testified in support of the new bill, emphasizing the ongoing need to eliminate offensive, racist, and derogatory names.
The bill also includes an amendment to enhance local control, but any name change would still require approval from the Oregon Geographic Names Board, followed by the final decision from the U.S. Board on Geographic Names.
