'Derogatory' Name For Lake County Creek Has Been Changed

LAKE COUNTY, IL — The former Squaw Creek, a 15-mile creek that runs from Hawthorn Woods through Fremont, Avon and Grant townships, is now Manitou Creek, according to the Daily Herald.

The U.S. Board on Geographic Names approved the name change in December. The Manitou Creek Drainage District, which has three members, spearheaded the effort to change the creek's name from Squaw, which is considered a derogate term for most Native Americans, according to the newspaper report.

"More local residents have come to understand that the word 'squaw' is an ethnic and sexual slur against Native American women," Patrick Duby, drainage board president, told the Daily Herald.

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