Montana Geographic Names Advisor
Geographic Name Change Request
Change Squaw Creek to Hot Dance Creek
Carbon County, Montana
Status =
Approved
| Description |
stream,
10 km (6 mi) long,
heads at 45°30’10”N, 109°05’24”W, flows SE to join Duffield Ditch 2.3 km (1.4 mi) SSW of Joliet; the name recognizes the site where Hot Dance Bustles were received by the Crow Indians from the Hidatsa |
| Location |
45°28’40”N, 108°59’57”W |
| PLSS Location |
T4S, Rgs21-22E |
| Proposal |
to change a name considered by some to be derogatory |
| Proponent |
Crow Indian Tribe |
| Not |
Squaw Creek |
| Administrative area |
None |
| Previous BGN Action |
None |
| See also |
|
| GNIS ID |
777122
|
| Local Usage |
None found
|
| Published |
Squaw Creek (USGS 1956, 1989; DeLorme Montana Atlas & Gazetteer, 1994)
|
This proposal, submitted by the Montana House Bill 412 Committee, would change the name of Squaw Creek, a 10 km (6 mi) long tributary of Duffield Ditch in northern Carbon County, to Hot Dance Creek. The proposed name, which was suggested by the Crow Tribe, would recognize the site where Hot Dance bustles were given by the Hidatsa Indians to the Crow Indians. According to the application, “There’s a place North, near Joliet where cliff art was found and it is estimated this cliff art was done in the fall of 1883, based on the many oral histories told.” The mouth of Squaw Creek lies approximately 24 km (15 mi) west of the Crow Indian Reservation.
This proposal has the support of the American Indian Caucus and the Montana Democratic Women’s Legislative Caucus of the Montana State Legislature. The Carbon County Commissioners have no objection to the name change, while the Montana State Names Authority recommends approval. As part of its research the SNA contacted the Montana Water Resources Division, the Montana Trust Lands Division, and the Indian Country Economic Development Program of the Montana Department of Commerce, all of which expressed support for the change. The Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks and the Montana State Historic Preservation Office are not opposed.
The proposal was forwarded to the Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of the Cheyenne River Reservation, the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe of the Lower Brule Reservation, the Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation, the Oglala Sioux Tribe of the Pine Ridge Reservation, the Rosebud Sioux Tribe of the Rosebud Indian Reservation, the Santee Sioux Nation, and the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North Dakota and South Dakota, but no response was received, which is presumed to indicate no opinion. There are no other geographic features in Montana known to contain the words “Hot Dance.”
|
| Montana Geographic Names Advisor Recommendation -
Support
(Friday, January 15, 2010)
|
| Domestic Names Committee Decision Date -
Wednesday, March 10, 2010 |
Domestic Names Committee Discussion -
A motion was made and seconded to approve this name change.
Vote: 9 in favor
0 against
0 abstentions
|
