Fox Chapel committee to examine removing word 'Squaw' from street, trail names

A new committee in Fox Chapel will examine the impacts of the word “Squaw” and its use in borough street and trail names.

The issue has become hotly debated in recent months, with several residents requesting local governments to replace the word, saying it is a slur against Native American women.

“While finding middle ground is usually best in situations with opposing viewpoints, there isn’t middle ground on this issue,” Councilwoman Mandy Steele said.

Steele has joined others in spearheading the name change on Old Squaw Trail and Squaw Run Road, along with Squaw Run, a stream that winds from the Allegheny River through the Lower Valley.

This, coupled with dueling petitions in O’Hara to keep or replace the title of Squaw Valley Park, has left policymakers seeking input on the contentious issue.

Fox Chapel council President Andrew Bennett said the sensitive topic requires logical and thoughtful review. He suggested that residents from Squaw Run Road and Squaw Run Road East should serve on the borough’s new committee.

Others who want to be considered for the group should email the borough secretary by Aug. 7 at speterson@fox-chapel.pa.us.

O’Hara’s parks and recreation committee on July 22 heard from more than a dozen people who challenged continued use of the word and some others who said protesters are unnecessarily dovetailing the issue with the nation’s current social justice movement.

“Are we going to bleep it out of every movie? Remove it from every map?” O’Hara parks committee member Joe Jablonski asked. “I feel it’s another move by people hacking away at the history of the township.”

Fellow O’Hara parks committee member Mary Lasher recommended that surveys be sent to homes across the Lower Valley.

“I never knew the word was offensive,” she said.

Fox Chapel Area School Board member Edie Cook said removing the word ensures that the community is as inclusive as possible.

She argued that it is inappropriate to allow what she called an indifferent majority to decide issues that negatively impact the minority.

“We need to take care of the welfare of the entire community,” she said.

Steele expects to discuss the issue during Fox Chapel’s next council meeting at 6 p.m. on Aug. 17. She wants a clear deadline for the newly formed committee to give a recommendation to council so the issue doesn’t linger. Though, she is ready to vote now, Steele said.

“In my opinion, where there is consensus among a historically violently oppressed minority group that a word is offensive, legislators should remove it from place names,” she said. “No committees, no community vote, no referendum. Just remove it.”