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The Squaw Valley ski resort, which hosted the 1960 Winter Olympics, will be officially renamed ahead of the 2021-2022 winter season to Palisades Tahoe. The resort, near Truckee, California, has been in the process of changing its name for more than a year. The decision, announced Monday, was reached after consulting with local Native American groups and extensive research into the etymology and history of the term "squaw," said Ron Cohen, president and COO of Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows. The word "squaw," derived from the Algonquin language, may have once simply meant "woman." But over generations, the word morphed into a misogynistic and racist term to disparage Indigenous women. "While we love our local history and the memories we all associate with this place as it has been named for so long, we are confronted with the overwhelming evidence that the term 'squaw' is considered offensive," Cohen said. The ski resort in Olympic Valley is located in the eastern part of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, a two-hour drive northeast of Sacramento near Lake Tahoe. "To all the people who consider the term as an honor to Native women, how can a term honor a group of people when it was clearly used to dehumanize and eliminate them?" Cohen told ESPN last year. "More than that, how can you honor a group with a name they consider offensive?" The resort also announced that the Squaw Creek chairlift will be renamed.
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