Commissioners mum in sticky business of creek name

Spokane County commissioners were like deer in a headlight this week when asked to weigh a controversial proposal to give Squaw Creek a less offensive name.

Commissioners mostly wanted someone else to make the decision.

Chairman Mark Richard said he was “comfortable” with either of two names the Washington State Board on Geographic Names asked commissioners to consider.

One is Awtskin Creek, proposed last year by the Coeur d’Alene Tribe as part of a campaign to rid their traditional territory in Idaho, Washington and Montana of 15 “squaw” names.

The other is Jack Pine Creek, a counterproposal supported by a number of people who live along the creek in southern Spokane County and northern Whitman County.

“I don’t have a preference at all,” said Commissioner Bonnie Mager.

She suggested taking no position and letting “the people whose business it is to name things go ahead.”

Naming things is the business of a federal board and the seven-member state board that sought the commissioners’ opinions. The state commission holds county commissioners’ opinions “in the highest regard,” according to Caleb Maki, the name board’s administrative assistant.

Maki said the board plans to take up the issue when it meets Sept. 21 in Olympia.

The commission has approved the Awtskin and Jack Pine names for “final consideration,” but since has received another proposal: John Paulson Creek. That idea was submitted in July by Kevin John Paulson, who lives on Bigelow Gulch Road in Spokane County and is the great-grandson of pioneer Squaw Creek farmer John Paulson.

The commission still could add that name to the choices under consideration if it wishes, Maki said.

Spokane County commissioners weren’t aware of the Paulson proposal Tuesday, nor did they know the meaning of “awtskin,” a phonetic spelling of the Coeur d’Alene name for “lookout.”

Instead, commissioners knew only that proponents of Jack Pine Creek like that name because it’s the kind of tree that grows in the area.

Commissioner Todd Mielke called for a staff report to explain the Awtskin Creek proposal, and the issue was tabled until next Tuesday.

Coeur d’Alene Tribe Chairman Chief J. Allan said in a March 18 letter to the state names commission that awtskin comes from a verb that means “to look at.” With different prefixes and suffixes, it can mean “we look out for ourselves” or “we look at each other from the heart,” Allan said.

He related the phrases to an 1858 battle near Rosalia, at what came to be known as Steptoe Butte.

U.S. Army Lt. Col. Edward Steptoe invaded what then was Indian territory to investigate the killing of two miners. Warriors from several tribes drove Steptoe and his soldiers out, but Col. George Wright returned with a superior force that crushed local tribes.

After that, Allan said, citing tribal elders, the Coeur d’Alenes had to move their camps to higher ground so they could watch for enemies. Tribal members said they had to look out for themselves, Allan said.

Maki, of the Washington names board, said he got no response when he asked Spokane County commissioners to comment on the “Awtskin Creek” name last year, but Whitman County commissioners said they had no objection.

Last week, though, Whitman County commissioners joined the Whitman County Historical Society in supporting the “Jack Pine” name for the creek and a canyon through which it passes in Whitman County.

The state names board also has received nearly 20 comments from individuals. Most objected to Awtskin or endorsed Jack Pine after competing Woodland and Harvest names faded away.

Sherry Burnham said she had lived in the area 54 years and saw no need to change a name she felt “has an Indian beauty to it.”

Kristen McKellar, of Colville, said she thought “the Indians are getting way too much of everything.”

“Why are Idaho Indians interfering with Washington names?” McKellar asked.

A. Jeanne Kjack insisted “squaw” is just an Indian word meaning woman, not “a derogatory term used by white people.” If names must be changed, she said, “at least have the kindness to consider the wishes of those whom have lived here for over 100 years.”

However, some people objected to those attitudes.

“What audacity!” Spokane resident James Isabell said. “When Europeans arrived and named Squaw Creek and Squaw Canyon, they didn’t consult those who had lived there for perhaps 300 generations.”

“Native American women have been demeaned by our cultural ignorance … for far too long,” Medical Lake resident Ginger Ninde wrote.

Tribal Chairman Allan noted in a March 13 follow-up letter to the names board that, while the Coeur d’Alene Tribe may now be identified with Idaho, the state didn’t exist until 1890.

Allan sympathized with residents who don’t like the tribe’s proposed name changes, but he said “longevity matters.”

“We know exactly what it’s like,” Allan said, to have outsiders “apply random and arbitrary place names to one’s familiar places.”

Comments regarding the proposed changes in Washington may be addressed to Maki at caleb.maki@dnr.wa.gov or at P.O. Box 47030, Olympia, WA 98504.