Southern Oregon peak gets a new name
Published 9:36 pm Tuesday, June 24, 2008
ASHLAND, Ore. — A Southern Oregon peak that was known commonly, though not officially, as Squaw Peak has a new name that no longer uses the word many American Indians say is derogatory.
The United States Board on Geographic Names has approved the naming of Taowhywee Point for the 3,727-foot peak just outside of Ashland on the 1,800-acre Circle of Teran Ranch, owned by Scott Young and Sulara James.
The couple applied for an official name in March 2007 after an American Indian friend, Robert Greygrass, told them that many consider the term squaw derogatory.
Greygrass said local American Indians proposed naming it for Margaret Harner, a well-known medicine woman in the area during the 19th century. Harner’s spirit name is Taowhywee, a name she shares with her great-granddaughter, Agnes Baker Pilgrim, also known as Grandma Aggie.
