Saddle Gap gets name stamp of approval

The Washington State Committee on Geographic Names approved the name change Thursday during a meeting in Olympia, according to a state Department of Natural Resources news release. The rock feature had been officially named Squaw Saddle and appeared that way on a number of federal maps. Native Americans, though, find the term squaw offensive and requested a change.

The names will now be placed into the Washington Administrative Code and forwarded to the U.S. Board on Geographic Names for consideration.

This process would get the names Saddle Gap and Saddle Rock reflected on print and digital maps.

William Layman is the local historian who submitted the name-change application.

Layman said the change was important, but more of a formality because of the common local usage of the Saddle Rock name.

“It was less of an earth-shaking change than it might appear on paper, but nevertheless a very important one,” Layman said. “Because any vestige of a word like squaw on a land form brings a whole host of associations to marginalized people.”

The word squaw has a history of negative meaning, said Randy Lewis, Wenatchi Band elder. It was often used to refer to Native American women and white men who fell in love with Native American women were called “squaw lovers.”

Saddle Gap has historical and mythological importance to Native Americans, Layman and Lewis said.

Saddle Gap tells the story of where “Black Bear” and “Grizzly Bear” engaged in a battle over the husband they shared, according to Layman's book Native River: The Columbia Remembered.

Coyote grew tired of the two bears bickering and turned them both to stone, according to the book.

Two other geographical features in Chelan County were also updated, according to the news release. Two unnamed creeks, 20 miles from Leavenworth, were named Nason Bach and Wald Bach using Leavenworth’s German culture theme.