thanks Cheri for the info...
Feds waffle, then back Piestewa Peak
By Natasha Kaye Johnson
Special to the Times
It's official. The second highest point in the Phoenix Mountains and the third highest in the city of Phoenix is Piestewa Peak.
Moments after the U.S. Board on Geographic Names voted 11-2 to officially change the name of "Squaw Peak" to "Piestewa Peak" on April 10, celebratory e-mails spread like wildfire in the Native American community.
A controversy erupted five years ago when Gov. Janet Napolitano convinced a state board to change the name in honor of fallen soldier Lori Piestewa, the first Native woman to be killed fighting for the U.S. military.
A mandatory five-year waiting period is required to change the name of geographic locations, but Napolitano was able to convince the state board to make an exception.
An attempt to similarly sway its federal counterpart didn't work, but the fifth anniversary of Piestewa's passing last month permitted the board to revisit the issue.
The vote puts an end to debate surrounding the name, but the three-hour deliberation before the committee voted was anything but joyous for Hopi chairman Ben Nuvamsa and Piestewa Memorial Committee member Ernest Martinez, who both attended the voting session in Washington, D.C., last week.
Martinez said there was tension in the room of about 20 people.
When the meeting began, Martinez said the committee was leaning towards reverting to Squaw Peak. However, the members took note of a flood of e-mails supporting Piestewa Peak that had arrived in the last two weeks.
Lou Yost, executive secretary of the national board, said the office had received approximately 30 letters from area residents who support the name change to Piestewa Peak and 75 who opposed it.
In the last two weeks, the office began getting more e-mails and letters in support of Piestewa Peak. Martinez said e-mails supporting Piestewa were still arriving as the meeting took place.
Martinez said the board discussed four other name suggestions made in the last few weeks.
"After five years all of a sudden people starting giving name suggestions," he said. "That was bad news. It looked like they were going to defer it for another meeting.
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A motion to defer the naming of the peak was made, but was not seconded. A deferment would have added eight months onto the process, and the board would have had to retrieve input from the city and state once again.
"It was torture," said Martinez, who brought photographs and information about events held in Piewstewa's honor to show the overwhelming support within the Native American community, as well as some of the non-Native community.
"It's just anguish right there that they (people in Phoenix) would feel that way," he said, referring to local opposition to the name.
The federal board voted unanimously to reject the name of Swilling Peak. In April 2007, a Prescott historian named Al Bates submitted a request for the panel to consider naming the mountain after Jack Swilling, a settler who is considered by some to be one of the founders of Phoenix.
The board then spent another hour and a half discussing the term "squaw," Nuvamsa said. Some were of the opinion that if the local people in Phoenix are familiar with the name Squaw Peak, it should stay, he said.
"Some of them still did not get the message that 'squaw' is derogatory," Martinez said.
Ironically, just before deliberations took place, Nuvamsa said the board passed a docket to change the name of 13 sites in South Dakota that bear the name "squaw.
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Nuvamsa said he could not understand why, in light of that action, there was any consideration of restoring the Squaw Peak name in Phoenix.
"It was confusing to me," he said.
Neither Nuvamsa nor Martinez was allowed to speak during voting, but both said they expressed their displeasure in other ways.
"It was starting to get out of hand," Martinez said. "That's when Ben and I were shaking our heads in disbelief and jumping up and down with our body language.
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Board members who voted against Piestewa Peak said they were upset that the governor used her authority to waive the five-year requirement.
Another issue brought up was the lack of a direct cultural tie between the Hopi people and Phoenix, and the lack of a direct relationship between Lori Piestewa and the peaks that bears her name.
However, those points were extinguished as one member pointed out that she is nationally known. Many places are named after nationally known figures, despite the lack of a direct link.
For instance, the late President Kennedy had no direct link to the patch of marshland on Long Island that became JFK International Airport.
"I was getting angrier and angrier by the minute," Nuvamsa said of the discussion.
When voting finally took place, and Piestewa Peak was chosen, both men felt overwhelmed.
"My emotions got caught up with me," Nuvamsa said. "It could have gone either way.
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Nuvamsa said Piestewa is his daughter in the Hopi way because he and her father, Terry Piestewa, are clan brothers and grew up together.
John Lewis, executive director of the Intertribal Council of Arizona, said the committee also suggested an alternative, "Vainom Do'ag," which means "iron mountain" in the O'odham language.
Lewis is hopeful both names will catch on in the Valley.
The name finalization has brought relief to those who fought for it over the past five years.
"Bottom line is, no matter what stuff has been brought up before, we can lay that to rest now," Martinez said. "I'm happy they didn't take this away from (children) Carla, Brandon, or (parents) Mr. and Mrs. Piestewa.
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"She represents not only Native American women and Native Americans, but also veterans," Nuvamsa said. "We are all citizens of the United States
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