West Sacramento Approves Street Name Changes to Honor Native American Heritage, Shedding Offensive Terms

As the city works to eliminate racially offensive phrases from addresses, West Sacramento will soon have new street names. According to the City of West Sacramento website, two streets that used the word “squaw,” which many Native American women find offensive, were renamed by the California Advisory Committee on Geographic Names.

The streets that were originally called Sq_Road and Sq_Court will now be called “Tebti,” which translates to “the streams that flow together,” in recognition of the meeting point of the Sacramento and American Rivers. This alteration addresses a colonial heritage and provides justice to 40 impacted homes, going beyond a mere name change. According to the City of West Sacramento, the renaming, which was spurred by AB 2022, was unanimously authorized by the City Council on July 17 and obtained final state approval on Thursday last week.

Residents of the renamed streets will soon get letters from city employees with instructions on how to update their addresses with the Social Security Administration and the IRS. The City of West Sacramento anticipates that the process will be finished by the beginning of 2025.

As mandated by AB 2022, Deputy City Manager Jon Robinson thanked the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation and the local populace for working together to rename streets that contain the insulting “sq_” epithet. The Tribal Council’s suggested new name, “Tebti,” is a step in the right direction toward respect and inclusivity for underrepresented Indigenous communities. West Sacramento is moving past its history of offensive street names with the rebranding scheduled for January 2025.

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