The squawfish is about to be rechristened. The Names
of Fishes Committee of the American Fisheries Society has
recommended that all squawfish be renamed pikeminnows. Although the
committee is reluctant to change common names for fear of causing
confusion, it made an exception this time because “names should not
violate the tenets of good taste.” The committee determined that
the squawfish probably was never intended to be a derogatory
reference to Native American women; in fact, it’s more likely that
the term evolved from a mispronunciation of squawkfish – the sound
the fish makes when it’s taken out of the river. Regardless of its
origins, many Native American groups like the Columbia River
Inter-Tribal Fish Commission find it offensive today, calling the
decision “long overdue.”
To get a fish renamed,
write Joseph S. Nelson, Chair of the Names of Fish Committee,
Department of Biology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E9.
*Stanley Yung
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Squawking gets squawfish renamed.
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