Squaw Lake (California)

Squaw Lake is a small lake in the eastern Sierra Nevada, near the John Muir Trail in John Muir Wilderness. It is located 1.8 miles (2.9 km) west-northwest of Mount Izack Walton and 5 miles (8.0 km) north-northeast of Lake Thomas A Edison. at an altitude of 10,315 feet (3,144 m).[1] The outflow of Squaw Lake becomes Fish Creek, which eventually joins the Middle Fork of the San Joaquin River. The name is controversial because squaw is an ethnic and sexual slur, historically used for indigenous North American women.[2][3][4][5]

Squaw Lake
View from the south-west (June 30, 2009)
Squaw Lake Squaw Lake
Location	John Muir Wilderness, Sierra Nevada, Fresno County, California, United States
Coordinates	37°28′36.78″N 118°55′22.44″W[1]
Basin countries	United States
Surface elevation	10,315 ft (3,144 m)[1]

The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment has issued a safe eating advisory for any fish caught at Squaw Lake due to elevated levels of mercury, PCBs, and selenium.[6]

See also

• List of lakes in California

References

1. "Squaw Lake". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey.
2. National Museum of the American Indian (2007). Do All Indians Live in Tipis?. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-115301-3.
3. Schulman, Susan (16 Jan 2015). "Squaw Island to be renamed 'Deyowenoguhdoh'". The Buffalo News. Retrieved 14 April 2019. The proposed name change comes at the request of Native Americans, who say the word "squaw" is a racist, sexist term
4. Arlene B. Hirschfelder; Paulette Fairbanks Molin (2012). The Extraordinary Book of Native American Lists. Scarecrow. p. 34. ISBN 978-0-8108-7709-2.
5. King, C. Richard, "De/Scribing Squ*w: Indigenous Women and Imperial Idioms in the United States" in the American Indian Culture and Research Journal, v27 n2 p1-16 2003. Accessed Oct. 9, 2015
6. OEHHA, Admin (2019-02-12). "Squaw Lake". oehha.ca.gov. Retrieved 2019-02-15.