Squaw Creek decision on hold

Spokane County commissioners agree Squaw Creek’s offensive name needs to be changed, but they’re split on what to do about a replacement.

They decided to wait until next Tuesday to decide what to recommend to the Washington State Board on Geographic Names.

Commissioner Todd Mielke leans toward Jack Pine Creek, which appears to be the consensus of people who live along the creek on both sides of the Spokane-Whitman county line.

Commissioner Mark Richard favors Awtskin Creek, the name proposed by the Coeur d’Alene Tribe.

And Commissioner Bonnie Mager doesn’t want to choose.

The commissioners don’t have to choose, but the state names board wants their opinion on the two choices the board will consider when it meets next week in Olympia.

The board hasn’t approved a third proposed name – John Paulson Creek, after a pioneer farmer – for “final consideration.”

Proponents of Jack Pine as the new name for the creek and a canyon it passes through in Whitman County note that’s the kind of tree that was planted after a large fire in the late 1950s or early 1960s.

Tribal leaders say awtskin is a phonetic spelling of their word for “lookout.” They say it relates to an 1858 battle in that general area, in which several tribes defeated Army Lt. Col. Edward Steptoe. Afterward, the Coeur d’Alenes said, they had to be on the lookout for the retaliation that followed.

Mielke told his fellow commissioners he found jack pine “a little bit more specific to the area” than awtskin, and noted the tree name has been endorsed by Whitman County commissioners.

Richard said in an interview that he thinks the tribal name has a stronger connection to the area because it commemorates an important historical event. He also thinks Native Americans deserve some deference on names.

“It’s the very least we can do – to show we are interested in apologizing and recognizing what they went through,” Richard said.

Mager said in an interview that she would prefer to tell the state names board that commissioners have no objection to either name.

“I don’t live in that area, so I don’t have any particular affinity,” Mager said.

Anyway, she said, it’s the state board’s job to choose a name.

“I have perfect confidence that the board will do the right thing,” Mager said.