Committee approves Gorge name changes: Five natural features may go by another name to eliminate derogatory term for Native American women

A July 26 meeting of the Washington State Committee on Geographic Names, established last year in accordance with the Department of Interior policy, saw five proposals accepted for final consideration by the Board of Natural Resources later this year for features in Klickitat and Skamania counties.

According to the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, which submitted seven total proposals for name changes of natural features within the ceded lands of the Yakama Nation, “the candidate names that we propose are from the Yakama Nation’s languages and dialects, which are associated with the Tribes and Bands of that geographic area, respectively.”

The five natural features bearing the term and their respective name change proposals are as follows.

A pair of Columbia River islands near Dallesport in Klickitat County would be named Sq’wanana, meaning “two sitting on lap.” The name would reflect the names of the islands in the Wishxam language. Despite the prefix, Yakama officials said “sq’wa” is a common sound in the Wishxam language.

The Skamania County stream that flows into the Little White Salmon River would be named Shluxiksikswana, meaning “the eating place,” after the name of the Klickitat village site within the drainage.

The Skamania County lake southeast of Blue Lake would be named Aalvic Wahtum, after Lucille Aalvic. Aalvic was a citizen of the Yakama Nation who lived in Stevenson after being removed from her original family site by the Army Corps of Engineers during the construction of the Bonneville Dam. Aalvic was the first officially enrolled citizen of the Yakama Nation.

The Skamania County butte would be named Pataniks Pushtye, referencing the name of Lulukash, the child of the woman for whom the nearby twin buttes are named.

The Skamania County creek along East Canyon Ridge would be named Timla Wapykt from the traditional name of the adjacent butte, Timla-Timla Pushtye, meaning “little heart mountain of that shape.”

Should the Board of Natural Resources, which meets once per month, accept the changes, the proposals will be added to the state administrative code and sent to the U.S. Board on Geographic Names for further review.