By the Mound City News

On Tuesday, December 6, 2016, United States Fish and Wildlife Service Director Daniel M. Ashe of Washington, D.C., made the decision that Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) will be renamed. “Squaw Creek” was immediately removed from the refuge’s name and an interim name, Eagle Flats National Wildlife Refuge, was given to the refuge that is located southwest of Mound City.
On Monday, December 19, a meeting was held at the refuge to discuss the name change and possibly provide alternatives that would be suitable for a final name change. The “by invitation only” meeting, hosted by the refuge, had tribal representation, community leaders, other governmental representation and refuge partners.
At the onset of the meeting, Sabrina Chandler, Refuge Supervisor of Area I (Missouri) of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, stated that there was no option about changing the name. According to Chandler, Director Ashe has made the decision that “Squaw” will be removed from the name of the refuge because of the derogatory and offensive nature of the word among many Native American people. Chandler added that the public will be officially notified of the change once a permanent name has been chosen for the refuge. Although a similar attempt at changing the name of the refuge was blocked in 1997, this time there is no option of appeal.
Several present at the meeting voiced displeasure at the changing of the name, citing historical and name recognition reasons. Greg Book, the mayor of Forest City, MO, and a representative of the Forest City Lions Club, was not at the meeting but corresponded with refuge manager, Lindsey Landowski, before the meeting. He questioned the director’s judicial power to mandate a name change. Landowski assured Book that the director does have that power. It was noted that the city of Forest City and Greg Book were against any name change.
Representatives of the Iowa Nation tribes spoke to the group about the word, squaw, and how the many languages of the Native American interpret the word. To most, the word does take on a derogatory and degrading context, even though it has been used for centuries. Several other “Indian” named parks and rivers have had a name change over the years for the same reason.
The consensus of the panel at Monday’s meeting was that the interim name of Eagle Flats did not represent everything the refuge has to offer. The Iowa tribe offered native names, but agreed that most people would not be able to correctly pronounce them. The group discussed the geological location of the refuge and addressed the loess mounds in the area. It was unanimously approved to present the name Loess Mounds National Wildlife Refuge to the director in Washington, D.C., for consideration.
The panel noted the words from former Squaw Creek NWR manager, Ron Bell, who spoke at the meeting. Bell wanted to stress the relationship the refuge has always had with Mound City and felt that Loess Mounds made a good connection between the two entities. The tribal representatives were pleased with the name, citing burial mounds in the area.
Mound City’s mayor, Chris Krueger, was unable to attend the meeting but spoke to Mound City News on Tuesday, December 20. “Although it is sad to lose the name recognition of Squaw Creek, the city of Mound City is eager, as always, to work with the refuge in transitioning to the new name.” Krueger noted that it will take several years to get everyone to think of the refuge with a new name, but it is the continuity of the services offered at the refuge that is most important. Several attendees at the meeting echoed those sentiments.
Chandler noted that a permanent name change will occur before the second week in January, 2017. The public will be notified of the change and new signage will be ordered.