In 2001, Indian women convinced the Oregon Legislature to rename all the "squaw" place names in the state.

Since then, only 37 out of more than 150 place names have been changed. The Oregon Geographic Names Board only meets twice a year and when it approves a new name, the final decision still rests with the U.S. Board on Geographic Names.

The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation is hoping to move the process forward in a big way. The tribe proposed new names for 44 places in northeastern Oregon.

"Tribes are typically very slow, very thoughtful, very methodical," Malissa Minthorn Winks, who sits on the state board and serves as a director of the Umatilla tribal museum, told The Oregonian. "We don't race out there and do something in the bat of an eye."

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Tribes, panel work to remove 'squaw' from Oregon place names (The Oregonian 8/6)