Derogatory word cut from the name of NJ brook. Mayor says new moniker is 'stupid'
NORTH HALEDON — Hundreds of geographic features across the country, including mountains, rivers and a local creek, were officially stripped of their pejorative names and given new ones by the federal government.
All of the old names had the word “squaw” in them. The term, feds say, is an ethnic and sexist slur for Indigenous women.
Squaw Brook, flowing south from the township of Wyckoff in Bergen County to the larger Molly Ann Brook, is now called First Brook, according to a list of the new names on the website of the Geological Survey.
The former Squaw Lake, a reservoir in the township of Medford in Burlington County, will be known as Flying Duck Lake.
The Department of the Interior announced the changes this month, saying in a statement that more than 1,000 recommendations were received for new names of nearly 650 geographic features. The period for public suggestions ended in the spring.
“The name they picked was stupid,” Mayor Randy George said of the brook’s new moniker. “First Brook? First Brook – that’s their name, huh?”
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In April, the Borough Council passed a resolution in protest of the impending name change.
George took a neutral stance at the time, and he maintained that attitude this week. “I’m not trying to tell someone they shouldn’t be offended,” he said. “If they’re offended, they’re offended.”
Susan Serico, the borough historian and director of its public library, said it may take a while for the new name to catch on – especially for natives like herself. “Everyone calls it Squaw Brook,” she said. “And probably even after the name is changed, they’ll still call it Squaw Brook. To us, there was nothing derogatory about that, but times have changed.”
The waterway lent its name to a county thoroughfare – Squaw Brook Road – along with the street addresses of Memorial School and dozens of single-family homes. A 64-unit complex of town houses on Hunter Road North is called Squaw Brook Run.
Serico offered a possible new name for the brook through the Federal Register, she said. Her recommendation of Sycomack Brook would have preserved its connection to this area’s Native American past, she said.
“I have to assume that they got it in time,” she said.
A July 1965 news story published about the history of the borough states that the brook’s name “spells a minor mystery.” It may have referred to an Indian maiden who drowned herself after being jilted, the article notes, or to the fact that its fresh water was used by Lenape women for “domestic purposes.”
The renaming process began in November, when Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland formally declared the word “squaw” a derogatory term. She also ordered its removal from federal use, which involved compiling a list of possible replacement names, consulting almost 70 tribal councils and taking suggestions from the public at large.
“I feel a deep obligation to use my platform to ensure that our public lands and waters are accessible and welcoming,” Haaland said in the statement. “That starts with removing racist names.”
Philip DeVencentis is a local reporter for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
Email: devencentis@northjersey.com
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: North Haledon NJ: Feds remove derogatory word from brook's name
