Thursday, January 8, 2009

Squaw Butte

Looking across snowy fields at Squaw Butte (say "byoot," not....you know, the other way you might pronounce it), which is between Boise and Emmett. It looks like it stands all by itself when viewing it towards the northeast from Boise, but it's really connected to the Boise front mountains. You just can't see the connection from the Boise view. It's a popular hiking spot, and a spot for controversy some years ago when some Native American groups petitioned to have the name changed. Some said the word was offensive to women, others said it is simply an interpretation of the word "woman" and not offensive, and that place names with the word were meant to be an honor.The name stayed the same.

11 comments:

  1. Nice snow cap, and no jokes about how big the butte is.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Fantastic scenery! Also interesting story with the name.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Do you think the name is offensive, or is it a case of too much PC? I can't decide.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi MOJO - I was working in the news world when this controversy arose and I interviewed many people who really felt insulted - and I talked to Native Americans who didn't think it was a bad word at all. I decided not to think of it is offense, to think of it as an honor-name :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Now I am interested in more information. How did it originally get the name. Who in particular finds the name offensive. Is it going to change. I love these littel local stories. It really is a big part of what we do.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Political correctness is such a bore.

    I do like your phonetic assistance in the correct pronunciation, however the alternative does conjure flights of imagination :)

    As an aside, the "word verification" word for this comment posting is "breste" . No, I'm not kidding.

    Coincidence, I wonder? Even Google is politically incorrect these days :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Some people get het up over the most irrelevant things - the UK is littered with "rude" place names - sometimes they get changed but often the derivation of the name was something quite inoffensive.

    just looked at the word-veri captcha
    "tistes" - almost two different "rude" words!

    and I seem to have mistyped it - cos now it's "dousla"

    ReplyDelete
  8. LOL, I remember the first time I saw "Butte" on a sign as a kid, I laughed and laughed till my parents corrected me. It still makes me giggle :)

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for stopping by!