Historical changes for Southwest McKenzie County
By Patrice Bumstead
Farmer Editor
Squaw Gap, an unincorporated community in southwest McKenzie County, along with Squaw Creek, a stream located in the Theodore Roosevelt National Park, are two of the 660 geographic features nationwide that were included in the Department of Interior (DOI) Secretary’s Order 3404 issued in November 2021. The order declared the term “Squaw” as derogatory and implemented procedures to remove the term from Federal usage.
The Order also established a Derogatory Geographic Names Task Force to propose replacement names for places that have the term “Squaw” in their official names. The DOI has requested that the U.S. Board on Geographic Names (BGN) make a final decision on the replacement names by mid-January.
On Aug. 25, 2022, the McKenzie County Board of Commissioners received notice from the BGN of a suggested name provided by the Task Force to change the current official name from Squaw Gap to Sun Dance.