SALMON, United States (AFP) - Ruby Bernal wasn't self-conscious about her American Indian heritage until her adolescence, when a band of teenage boys called her "squaw" during a drive-by heckling.

"It's like saying the 'N-word' to a black person," says Bernal, a member of the Shoshone-Bannock, one of five tribes with reservations in Idaho.

"To me, it's a slap in the face. It belittles me and it belittles all Indian women."

Bernal is among Native Americans across the West fighting to excise "squaw" from the names of region's waterways, peaks and river valleys.

The 55 tribes of the Pacific Northwest say the "S-word," once commonly used when referring to an American Indian woman, is demeaning and never uttered on reservations.

They claim the term evokes the painful chapter in American history when Indian lands were confiscated and native peoples were subjugated by whites.

Yet the word litters the national map, with more than 800 place names including the word "squaw" and some resistance from local officials who object to what they say is a push to be politically correct.

Now one of the Northwest's most influential American Indian tribes is campaigning to wipe the word off the names of 11 creeks, bluffs and canyons in Idaho.


Native Americans seek to outlaw the 'S-word' - Yahoo! News

This is a 1st admendment violation.Freedom of Speech. If an Indian police cited me a fine for saying SHIT in public i can sue them and plus take it all the way to the US Supreme court.

Steveox, refraining from saying racist, belittling, rude remarks to others is not a violation of your freedom of speech.

This country needs some goddamn manners.

I don't think you read your own post. The S word they are referring to is squaw, not shit.

As they are their creeks, bluffs and canyons I can't see why anybody would object.

Dang, here I thought there were 11 creeks, bluffs and canyons in Idaho with 'shit' in their names.

We're not talking about refraining, we're talking about outlawing words. I think the thought of it is perverse. We have socialists trying to do the same in this country...

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To fill a world with ... religions of the Abrahamic kind, is like littering the streets with loaded guns. Do not be surprised if they are used. - Richard Dawkins

Philosophy is questions that may never be answered. Religion is answers that may never be questioned

MY CAPSLOCK KEY IS BROKEN LOL - Will be stumbled upon several times on the web.

Clash

Hey I've been up Shit Creek without a paddle heaps of times!

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"There were no D-Day Heroes in 1973" - Cold Chisel Khe Sanh

You first.

The irony is just so sweet.

Emphasized for Sam's benefit. (So she will understand)

/chuckle

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Where do they talk about freedom of speech issues? I saw they wanted to have some official names changed, and they are of course free to petition for that, just I am free to petitition to have Mt. Rushmore renamed "Dilettante's Peak". I didn't see that they wanted to make the word itself illegal. Did I miss something?

Still, it's going to sound funny saying I'm going skiiing at Bitch Valley.

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“ The subjects of every state ought to contribute towards the support of the government, as nearly as possible, in proportion to their respective abilities; that is, in proportion to the revenue which they respectively enjoy under the protection of the state.”

Adam Smith , The Wealth of Nations 1776

"We have always known that heedless self-interest was bad morals; we know now that it is bad economics"
FDR's second Inaugural Address

It most certainly is!

Enforced by legislation?!? That's downright authoritarian of you, Sam...

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"Government big enough to supply everything you need is big enough to take everything you have... The course of history shows that as a government grows, liberty decreases."

-Thomas Jefferson

Yes, to be clear, I have no issue with people objecting to names and petitioning to have them change.... that and the offensive words themselves all fall under the wonderful umbrella of free expression. And, if the names are really that offensive, I hope the people in a position to do so give it some consideration.

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"Government big enough to supply everything you need is big enough to take everything you have... The course of history shows that as a government grows, liberty decreases."

-Thomas Jefferson

Well, I had absolutely no luck in getting Cracker Barrel to change their name, but I wish the Native Americans the best in their attempts.

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“Who are we? We find that we live on an insignificant planet of a humdrum star lost in a galaxy tucked away in some forgotten corner of a universe in which there are far more galaxies than people.” -Dr. Carl Sagan

www.myspace.com/BusinessSocksBand
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And I find Burger King to be offensive. We have a Democracy, and are no longer under the Royalist rule.

What? We beat the British out of here and we have to contend with the word "KING" on ever street corner in America?

Sick.

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It's sweet ain't it? That's why I wrote it.

If only I were the Queen of the World. . .