Oregon tribe proposes new name for island

CHARLESTON, Ore. – Squaw Island – a tiny island near the mouth of Sunset Bay – is at the center of a naming dispute.

The Legislature has mandated changes in place names containing the word “squaw” after it was determined that many American Indians consider the term derogatory.

In a proposal to the Oregon Geographic Names Board, the Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw suggested changing the name to “Qochyax Women and Children’s Island.”

Caves on the island served as a refuge for American Indian women and children during times of peril.

The word Qochyax, pronounced “Quay-KEE-awk,” means women and children.

The board has suggested that the tribe come up with a name that’s short enough to fit on maps, and is also more pronounceable.

“The way the name is proposed now is too long. It would never be accepted by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names,” said Champ Vaughan, president of the Oregon board, which is responsible for vetting a name for an Oregon land feature before it is sent for final approval to the federal body.

“The way it’s spelled, it’s not an Anglicized spelling that most people could pronounce,” he said.

Tribal Chairman Ron Brainard, who has been trying to rename the island for years, disagrees with opinions on the pronunciation of Qochyax.

“As tribes, we had to learn the English language,” Brainard told the (Coos Bay) World. “If it’s a word of that nature, I don’t know what the problem is with the rest of the world to learn the word.”

Coos County commissioners wrote letters questioning whether the word is derogatory and opposing the name change.