Feds should give final OK to peak’s name change

East Valley Tribune editorial

The time has arrived to permanently name one of the Valley’s most prominent mountains for a fallen soldier, and to set aside years of lingering resentment about how the change came about.
The U.S. Board of Geographic Names is scheduled to vote April 10 on the designation of Piestewa Peak, the craggy desert mountain along state Route 51 that is still known by many longtime residents as Squaw Peak.

The vote really is a formality, as Arizona changed the mountain’s name five years ago to honor Army Spc. Lori Piestewa, who died in March 2003 during the Iraq invasion and became the first American Indian woman to be killed in combat while serving in the U.S. military. The freeway’s secondary name, along with local maps, the park around the mountain and various government facilities in the area, has been updated as well.

The federal board didn’t join Arizona in adopting Piestewa Peak, keeping with its policy of requiring five years to pass before a geographic feature can be named for someone who has died. The wisdom of that policy is evident as some Valley residents still are angry that Gov. Janet Napolitano and her appointees on the state geographic names board rushed through the original change in 2003 while running roughshod over those who wanted more time for deliberation.

But requests that the federal government reject the name of Piestewa Peak now are pointless. Arizona won’t turn back the clock, and a variety of local political forces including the state’s Indian tribes are committed to protecting the legacy that already has grown up around Lori Piestewa’s memory.

The eventual transition to the universal use of Piestewa Peak would take longer if the federal government doesn’t embrace the name next week. Postponing the inevitable would only needlessly foster old political wounds and likely would tear open new ones.