Tweeters Archives

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A very similar discussion occurred a while back on obol (and possibly
spilling on to tweeters) about changing the name of oldsquaw. Back then
I did a bit of research, mostly from Kortright's _Ducks, Geese and Swans
of North America_ (1943), and did what I always do...

I built a web page

http://www.pacifier.com/~mpatters/archive/Callithumpian.html

--
Mike Patterson "Change comes one funeral at a time"
Astoria, OR Doc Hatfield-in response to the question: Why
mpatters at orednet.org don't more cattlemen choose to use a proven
method of range management that is more
economically AND environmentally sound.

http://www.pacifier.com/~mpatters/bird/bird.html
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Oldsquaw, Long-tailed Duck or what?
The USGS is currently renaming all place names identified
as "insensitive" among these is "squaw." The Biological Survey is now under
the direction of the USGS and will probably begin using
Long-tailed
Duck in all future publications.
This effectively forces the AOU to act, under the banner
of uniform English language usage. They will probably also move for the
change to Long-tailed Duck.
Here's the problem:
Oldsquaw is not the only "long-tailed" duck. This makes
the name inaccurate. Most common identifiers for Oldsquaw refer in some
way to the noise this species produces (many of them associating the call
to elderly women of varying ethnic persuasions with an A-type personality).
If we assume that the name change will come, whether we agree with the
motives or not, it is appropriate to seek more interesting and representative
names for Oldsquaw.
It might seem logical to select a name from the many Native
American identifiers. Most of these onomatopoetic. The problem...well,
they're not English and the AOU would be looking for uniform English
language usage. Native American names include: caccawee (with several spelling
variants), coween, ha-ha-way and kla-how-yah. Son-son-sally, jay-eye-see
and jack-owly are also onomatopoetic, but probably not Native American.
Native American names would have the advantage of priority, the rule of
thumb in naming that the first name to comes into use gets chosen.
An alternate name that has stricken the fancy of many
of us is Callithumpian Duck. It is English. It also refers to the
call. A callithump is, according to the New Webster's International
Dictionary, is a raucous and noisy parade. A callithumpian band, according
to The Geese, Ducks and Swans of North America (Kortright, 1943)
is "(an) improvised band of uncertain musical ability." This would certainly
be a more original, poetic and descriptive name.
Two interesting names that leave one wondering about their
etymologies are Hell's Chicken (probably another reference to the
scolding nature of the call) and Uncle Dick (I have no theories
on this name). One respondent to the discussion felt Uncle Dick might be
a suitable turnabout from the suggested sexism of Oldsquaw.
The current opinion is split fairly evenly between leaving
the name Oldsquaw alone (a wish I would share, but I think it's out of
our hands), Long-tailed Duck (boring but everyone knows it), and Callithumpian
Duck (my choice, if the name must be changed).
  
  
 
 
 
<CENTER>
<IMG SRC="olds_spg.GIF" ALT="sonogram of OLDS" HEIGHT=104 WIDTH=310>
<A HREF="oldsquaw.AIFF">The call of Hell's Chicken</A>
If you would like to share your opinion on the Oldsquaw name change
discussion e-mail me at: <A HREF="mailto://mpatters at orednet.org">mailto://mpatters at orednet.org</A></CENTER>

  
 
 
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