SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California will strike the word “alien” from its state laws, getting rid of what Gov. Gavin Newsom called “an offensive term for a human being” that has ...

It is believed that the term "squaw" originated from the Algonquin word for "woman" used by Native Americans, but it has since been officially recognized as an offensive and derogatory term.

The word "squaw" was declared derogatory by the Department of Interior in 2021. Since then, hundreds of geographic features have been renamed with input from local tribes and Indigenous communities.