Squaw Valley Undergoes Name Change

On Sept. 13, 2021, Tahoe ski resort officials announced the renaming of Squaw Valley as Palisades Tahoe after local California tribes had repeatedly requested the change. 

The word “Squaw,” originally used in the Algonquin language, was shaped into a racist term to downgrade indigenous women. The resort’s old name was offensive to local tribes as it did not represent the events that took place at Palisades Tahoe, such as the Winter Olympics in February of 1960. 

“The word itself is a constant reminder of the unjust treatment of the native people, of the Washoe people,” said Darrel Cruz, of the Washoe tribe Historic Preservation Office. 

Because of the Washoe Tribe’s prime location in the valley of Lake Tahoe, the name change was very important to their tribe. 

“It’s a constant reminder of those time periods when it was not good for us. It’s a term that was inflicted upon us by somebody else and we don’t agree with it,” Cruz said.

After the difficult process of determining a new name for the resort, Palisades Tahoe President and COO Dee Byrne said, “This name change reflects who we are as a ski resort and community.”