![]() The S-word entered the English language in early 1600s Massachusetts. It’s difficult to reconcile the fact that our families have used a destructive slur for generations with the fact that they’re decent folk. But now, the politically correct crowd had it renamed “Old Woman Coulee.” Yeah right! To us locals it’s “Squ-w Coulee” and so it will remain, like it or not.Ĭlearly, many non-Indigenous Canadians feel defensive about the S-word. It’s been known as “Squ-w Coulee” forever. There is a coulee about a mile from my place. As someone complained in an online forum last October: ![]() ![]() Some locals contend that only a humourless “social justice warrior” would call for a cease- and-desist on the nickname Squ-w’s T-t for a mountain near Canmore. For instance, Stoney Squ-w Mountain in Banff honours the bravery of a Nakoda woman who lived there. It could be argued this is a way of recognizing the historical presence and title of Indigenous peoples in these parts. I appreciated her point and it gave me pause as a non-Indigenous linguist in Alberta where the S-word persists and also appears in some of our local place names. Big Head noted that though the S-word has an innocent etymology, “it has become a derogatory term that is no longer acceptable when you’re referring to an Indigenous woman.” This summer in Alberta, Ramona Big Head, a middle-school principal on the Kainai Nation, was called a “squ-w” by an Alberta Health Services employee.
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