On Thursday, The Trustees of Reservations announced that it has officially changed the names of its two Monument Mountain trails as a result of working with indigenous descendants of the Mohican Tribe who first settled in the Southern Berkshires nearly 300 years ago. We have worked for a long time with them, and have a relationship going pretty far back, Director of Southern Berkshires Properties Brian Cruey said in regard to the collaboration. They re making sure that what we are saying is accurate, having language approved when we put in materials and also working on giving some of the objects we do have on our collection back to the tribe.
Names changed at historic site to reflect Indigenous people s history
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A rendering of a Native American-themed mural that the state Department of Transportation has agreed to place on the overpass to Exit 3 from the Northway. (Provided by the Stockbridge-Munsee Mohican Nation)(Provided by the Stockbridge-Munsee Mohican Nation)
The names of a trail and a 1,640-feet high mountain peak at a protected site in Great Barrington, Mass. have been renamed to reflect the traditional presence of the Stockbridge-Munsee Community Band of Mohicans after discussions between the band and the non-profit Trustees of Reservations that manage the Monument Mountain Site.
Mohican Monument Trail is the new name for the former Indian Monument Trail. And “Peeskawso Peak,” (pronounced / Pē: skãw. sō /) which means virtuous woman in the Mohican language, has replaced Squaw Mountain.
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Western Massachusetts summit and trail renamed after Native American outcry
Updated 11:00 AM;
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A summit of a Massachusetts mountain with a literary connection is being renamed, along with one of its trails, after outcry from Native American groups that call the area home.
Indian Monument Trail is being renamed the Mohican Monument Trail, and Squaw Peak, a summit of Monument Mountain, is now Peeskawso Peak, according to a Friday announcement from the Trustees of Reservations, a conservation group that oversees the land.
The conservation nonprofit said it made the changes after more than a year of collaboration with the Stockbridge-Munsee Community Band of Mohicans.
The nonprofit conservation organization has renamed the mountain’s Indian Monument Trail “Mohican Monument Trail” and Squaw Peak “Peeskawso Peak.” Peeskawso means virtuous woman in the Mohican language.
“These changes were discussed at great length and approved by the Stockbridge-Munsee Community Band of Mohicans who collaborated with The Trustees for more than a year in general acknowledgement that the term ‘Indian’ is considered offensive, and ‘squaw’ is an ethnic and sexist slur,” the Trustees wrote in a press release Friday. Advertisement
“Being able to rename these areas in our homelands is a great honor but also an opportunity to take back our history and to right a wrong,” Heather Bruegl, director of cultural affairs for the Stockbridge Munsee Community, said in a statement. “By removing offensive language, it gives us an opportunity to correct the historical narrative.”