from: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0418piestewa18.html
It's official: Squaw Peak now Piestewa Peak to honor Hopi soldier
File photos
The State Board on Geographic and Historic names approved renaming Squaw Peak in north-central Phoenix to Piestewa Peak in honor of Army Pfc. Lori Piestewa, the first female American Indian soldier to be killed in combat.
Board votes 5-1 to replace 'Squaw' moniker
Robbie Sherwood
The Arizona Republic
Apr. 18, 2003 12:00 AM
Squaw Peak in north-central Phoenix will be renamed Piestewa Peak.
The State Board on Geographic and Historic Names waived its five-year waiting period and approved the change by a 5-1 vote Thursday before a cheering crowd after a four-hour hearing.
The board sided with dozens of supporters who said that the word "Squaw" is offensive and that the mountain should be renamed after Army Pfc. Lori Piestewa, pronounced py-ESS-tuh-wah. The Hopi from Tuba City was the first female American Indian soldier to be killed in combat.
How soon the new name will appear on maps remains uncertain. It could take five years for federal geographic naming authorities to consider the change and reprint official maps.
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"For Arizona purposes, the name is now Piestewa Peak," said Tim Nelson, general counsel for Gov. Janet Napolitano, who argued for the change. "The confusing part is what happens now federally with our recommendation to change the name."
Worthy of honor
Nelson argued that a waiting period was not needed because the board had agreed more than five years ago that the name was offensive but just hadn't found an appropriate replacement. Piestewa, a mother of two who was killed in an ambush in Iraq, is worthy of the honor, Nelson said.
The board also recommended by the same 5-1 vote changing the Squaw Peak Freeway to the Lori Piestewa Freeway. The State Board of Transportation can now take up the matter and could officially approve the change by the end of May.
Retired Army Chaplain Caleb Johnson, a Hopi and friend of the Piestewa family, congratulated Napolitano on pressing for the name change, saying it took courage. He also said alternative ideas about naming a stadium or building after Piestewa in Tuba City were not appropriate.
"Those structures are not permanent, they can easily be torn down or destroyed," Johnson said. "But the peak will be here forever."
But Napolitano's insistence on the immediate name change also promises to shroud the board's decision in controversy. One member, Richard Pinkerton, resigned before the meeting in protest of what he called political pressure from Napolitano. Pinkerton's resignation letter said he would not "prostitute my integrity in the interest of satisfying a certain political venue."
And Board Chairman Tim Norton did not attend the meeting. Napolitano had asked him to resign last week when he initially refused to hear her petition for the name change.
Norton and Pinkerton were the board's two public members. In their absence, board member Lloyd Clark, a local historian and former Phoenix Gazette copy editor, was the only dissenting vote. He suggested the other board members, all state employees representing different agencies, were afraid of Napolitano.
"We are acting in haste," Clark said. "I am not a state employee so I have no fear. You are voting because your jobs depend on it."
Nelson said he knew of no political pressure put on the board by Napolitano. And board member Martin Pasqualetti, a geography professor at Arizona State University, strongly disagreed with Clark.
"I wouldn't care if the governor had made this proposal or a felon on death row made it, it is the right thing to do," he said.
A string of local politicians, including Phoenix Mayor Skip Rimsza and Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox, argued for the name change. But the most poignant pleas came from American Indians, who said the change would both honor a fallen hero and remove a demeaning smudge.
"Bureaucrats can become so wrapped up in their rules that they fail in their mission," said Jessie Thompson, a Navajo and member of the Navajo County Board of Supervisors. "Lori Piestewa honored this state with her life. Allow Arizona to honor her with this name."
San Carlos Reservation resident Loren Victor got a rueful laugh from the crowd when he told the board, "Native American people have been the recipients of many broken treaties over the years. Let's break one more and rename that thing today."
Political football
But others in the crowd accused Napolitano of using the emotional and divisive issue as a political football.
"Using her death as a political platform is just wrong, and the governor has no right," said James Malenfant of Phoenix. "I think (Piestewa) would be appalled, shocked and embarrassed by the political pandering that is going on. It cheapens her honor."
The U.S. Board of Geographic Names must approve any naming or renaming of any geographic area, but states and local governments are not bound by their decision, said Karen Wood, a spokeswoman with the U.S. Geological Survey in Reston, Va.
"If we don't pass something, it doesn't mean the state can't do it," she said. "But it won't be recognized by the federal government without the board's approval."
Wood said she was unaware of the federal policy ever being waived in special cases. The policy dates to 1981.