U.S. approves Salish Sea name
The U.S. Board of Geographic Names approved the name Salish Sea today in a unanimous vote. The name is now officially accepted nationally, as well as in Washington State. It has been approved in British Columbia by the province's names board, and Canadian national approval is expected. The vote was confirmed by the board's executive secretary, Lou Yost.
Not everyone is thrilled with the idea. Pierce County goes its own way. It was the only county on the eastern shores of Pugetopolis to reject R-71, the gay partners rights referendum. Some say it is due to the large number of military retirees in the county, but it could be a strain of conservatism that can express itself in other ways.
For example, looking through documents provided by the Washington State Department of Natural Resources concerning public feedback on the Salish Sea proposal, a noticeable percentage of Washingtonians opposing the idea or complaining about the process came from Pierce County. The city of Gig Harbor, the Pierce County Heritage Society, and a Tacoma historian asked for more time to consider the proposal and complained that people had not been given enough notification. A place-names buff in Steilacoom complained of having a "pet name" foisted onto the already crowded map: "We need space on the map to commemorate new heroes among us but Silash [sic] seems to be a waste of time." Another Tacoman said that the real Salish word for the water was "whulge" and good luck pronouncing it the way it was originally pronounced. He thought the whole thing was silly.
There were objections by people in other places (Bremerton, Bellingham, San Juan Island, also a few from British Columbia). Many of those against were under the mistaken belief that the Salish Sea would replace names like Puget Sound, or that it would require expensive reprinting of maps and charts (it does not). The proposal has been under active discussion and consideration as part of a public process for a year, with lots of attendant media coverage (how often does the Geographic Names Board get TV coverage? Not often.). Positive comments outnumbered negative about 4 to 1, and that includes negative feedback based on misunderstandings.
Perhaps Pierce County residents are especially touchy on the place-name subject because of the over-100-year-old controversy concerning the name Mt. Rainier. Pierce County has been a hotbed of activism to change the name to some variant of "Tacoma" or "Tahoma" but has been rebuffed numerous times. Mt. Rainier is still Rainier. Bitterness about the Names board may linger. But Pierce County can rest easy; the inland waters might be the Salish Sea, but Commencement Bay is still Commencement Bay.
Comments:
Posted Thu, Nov 12, 5:37 p.m. inappropriate
Are you trying to say that the people of Pierce county don't like the name because it's so gay?
"Not everyone is thrilled with the idea. Pierce County goes its own way. It was the only county on the eastern shores of Pugetopolis to reject R-71, the gay partners rights referendum."
Posted Thu, Nov 12, 5:38 p.m. inappropriate
Mr. Berger, there was a word missing from this sentence:
Pierce County has been a hotbed of activism to change the name back to some variant of "Tacoma" or "Tahoma"...
Posted Fri, Nov 13, 8:44 a.m. inappropriate
One legitimate complaint I have heard has come from the Makah who have expressed concern that Salish does not represent the language group of western Juan de Fuca.
Posted Fri, Nov 13, 9:43 a.m. inappropriate
A couple of thoughts in response.
First, I fail to see how R71 & Salish Sea are connected. Are you saying only ignorant rednecks in Pierce Co. don't get it in either case? Because that's what it sounds like you think. I didn't happen to agree with the vote, but there is no connection between the two except your apparent need to bash.
The other is, although I don't live in Pierce Co., I am among the small handful of ignorami who opposed the naming. I get it (now); it wasn't REnaming, it was naming the entire system. But already I've seen media substituting "Salish Sea" for "Puget Sound." The finer points of the naming action are going to be lost in common usage, so in the end it'll merely be confusing.
Posted Fri, Nov 13, 9:56 a.m. inappropriate
It isn't really important, but I must point out that those Pierce County residents who opposed R-71 probably weren't too interested in Salish Sea.
Now, regarding legitimate versus silly complaints and opposition. It is true that the term "Salish" is too ethnographically vague (and in some cases outright inaccurate) for the area included in the naming. So, if there is a legitimate need to name the "system," is Salish Sea an appropriate name?
In Pierce County, there was also a general concern that not a single jurisdiction was aware of this proposal until a week before the final vote. I have heard that the Puyallup Tribe also was unaware. Whether or not this means that there was failure to notice is besides the point; it should at least provided cause to delay the vote for further review.
Posted Fri, Nov 13, 2:36 p.m. inappropriate
I'd be very interested to see an example of the media using "Salish Sea" where they only meant to be referring to Puget Sound.
Posted Fri, Nov 13, 4:28 p.m. inappropriate
One of the things the Salish Sea name addresses is people referring to local waters as "Puget Sound" that are not Puget Sound. The San Juan Islands, for example, are not in Puget Sound, yet countless travel guides and tour operators refer to them that way. The new name will act as kind of a catch-all, but everyone will still refer to bays, straits, sounds etc. but their old names.
Posted Fri, Nov 13, 4:44 p.m. inappropriate
I understand that there are only English on one side of the English Channel, Japanese on one side of the Sea of japan, and the Indian Ocean is not surrounded by India. Time to revise the world atlas to conform to the standards set forth by a few commenters here. The Makah live on one end of a body of water that is otherwise is almost completely the territory of the coast salish tribes, that would seem to be sufficient enough reason for the name to be applied. The salish lived on the better part of the entire state and as far west as Montana. For those of us tired of the confusion of place names with the imperial capitol, Salish would also be a good choice for the name of the state in the mossy corner.
Posted Fri, Nov 13, 5:10 p.m. inappropriate
George Washington needs to be honored as the namesake of this state if only for the reason that he voluntarily gave up power and went home. If only more of the leaders in this state (and that city) would do the same.
Posted Sat, Nov 14, 1:37 p.m. inappropriate
Salish is a terrible name, we will never change the name of our state. Tahoma makes sense because that is what Rainier was actually named by the people of the region. Why would you name the waters or the land after a tribe from Montana? Maybe there is a connection with the gays, maybe they are trying to make everyone else sound like they have a lisp too, at least for a moment while they are saying Salish Sea.
Posted Mon, Nov 16, 7:49 a.m. inappropriate
The Tacoma News Tribune has a "Hot Button" poll up today (11/16) asking readers if they like the designation "Salish Sea." The results: 16% like it, 26% say it doesn't matter and won't catch on, and 57% say it's a dumb idea, unnecessary, confusing. I should have mentioned in the story that even if Pierce County residents formed a kind of nexus of informal opposition to the Salish Sea, the county itself approved the idea, and so too did the Washington State Historical Society, whose headquarters and museum is in Tacoma.
Posted Mon, Nov 16, 2:44 p.m. inappropriate
Tahoma does make sense, in that the salish-speakers that populated the area prior to the european settlers used that name. I look forward to advocates of that moniker for The Mountain moving to change the names of Puget Sound, Mts Baker and St Helens, Commencement & Elliot Bays, Vashon, Whidbey, and Bainbridge Islands, and Hood Canal, all of which were named at the same time & fashion by Captain G. Vancouver in 1792. Good luck with that, and don't forget all of your teabagging friends will be able to call you 'PC' with absolute accuracy.