Fox Chapel votes to remove Squaw name from borough streets, trail

Fox Chapel council voted to eliminate the word Squaw from two borough roads and a trail, bringing an end to a divisive months-long debate and following a national trend to remove the slur from place names.

Council voted 6-0, with member Jay Troutman abstaining, to change the name of Squaw Run Road, Squaw Run Road East and Old Squaw Trail.

Potential names for the roads will be developed by March 1, with the changes being made effective on May 1.

The approval was fueled largely by residents who scolded council for not moving swiftly to erase the word, which some called a disgrace to the municipality.

“It’s a question of right and wrong,” Kate Garfinkel, a resident of Delafield Road, said.

“We know it’s a bad name, a racial slur. It’s pretty clear that council has a chance to do the right thing.”

“How long the term has been used is irrelevant,” said Chip Myers of Fox Chapel Road.

Council first debated the issue in July, at the same time petitions circulated in O’Hara to change the name of the former Squaw Valley Park.

The emotionally charged issue led Fox Chapel council to form a task force to examine the impact of a name change. Nine of the 15 members on the task force voted against any change, saying the word Squaw is not a slur.

“It’s not the task force’s job to determine if Squaw is a slur,” Elizabeth Peel, of Hidden Falls Court, argued. “It’s council’s job to decide whether to keep the slur. When someone tells you something hurts, you stop doing it.”

Councilwoman Mandy Steele, who spearheaded the name change effort, presented evidence from experts across the country to support it, including from The National Congress of American Indians, the National Museum of the American Indian, the Association on American Indian Affairs and the Seneca Nation, a tribe that has roots in the area.

“This process has been fraught from day one,” she said. “This should have been an easy decision for our elected officials when presented with clear consensus from the minority group.”

A string of residents called into the meeting to support the vote, with one after another urging council to “do the right thing.”

“As a society, we need to stop telling people what is insulting to them,” said Thomas Walker, who served as the non-voting chairman of the task force. “If Native Americans feel it is derogatory, then it is.”

Allison Stein told council there’s nothing historical about the road names.

She noted the paperwork associated with the name change might be a burden but the chore doesn’t “supersede treating others with respect.”

“This is not going to get better,” she said. “It’s going to keep coming up.”

Only one caller, Greg Dolan, blasted the move.

Dolan said it is a ridiculous issue and that “all of a sudden, it’s a crusade.”

When it came time for the vote, Councilman Fred Leech said he voted in favor because “although it wasn’t a slur when it was chosen, the name and its interpretation has changed with the times.

“I don’t think that it shows the best of Fox Chapel,” he said.

Council President Andy Bennett agreed, saying he never realized it was an issue until this summer.

“I think we want to be on the front side of this and be proactive,” he said.

Councilman Thomas Karet said he hoped that public discourse would be unifying but instead it was cruel.

“There will be scars but I hope they are not so bad that they undo the good that is supposed to be coming out of (this),” he said.

After the meeting, Steele said she cried tears of joy and was proud to be part of a movement that rallied behind Native Americans in such an inspiring way.

“This is not something that has divided us, this is something that has united us,” she said. “It was a nearly unanimous vote by council and we stood on the right side of history.”

Council said it will develop a financial reimbursement package to nullify some of residents’ costs associated with the name change. There also will be a help desk where residents can get assistance with paperwork related to changing driver’s licenses or utility bills, among other items.

Council also plans to reach out to O’Hara and Indiana townships to jointly file a request with the U.S. Geological Survey to change the name of Squaw Run, a stream that runs through all three communities.