SR 51 is now 'Piestewa Freeway' The Arizona Republic May. 1, 2003 05:20 PM If you drove home Thursday on state Route 51, you were traveling on the Piestewa Freeway. The State Transportation Board voted 5-2 earlier in the day to rename the Squaw Peak Freeway to match the newly renamed peak. "It's the right thing to do," said Victor Mendez, head of the Arizona Department of Transportation, who said the change goes into effect immediately. Changing the name of the highway honors Lori Piestewa, a Hopi believed to be the first Native American woman killed in combat, eliminates the derogatory term of squaw, and keeps the name the same as the peak, Mendez said. Hopi Chairman Wayne Taylor urged the board to vote for the change, saying "Indian women and women in general will benefit." Meanwhile, in Washington, the federal panel that would authorize the renaming of the peak will likely discuss the issue Thursday. Robert Hiatt, chairman of the domestic side of the U.S. Board of Geographic Names, said the issue will likely come up, even though no official request has come from Arizona, "because there's been so much controversy about it." Officially, the federal panel is prohibited from changing the name for five years. "We hope it will get done much faster than that," said Tim Nelson, Gov. Napolitano's legal counsel. "My understanding is that the federal board gives great deference to the state board."

And so WHY THE FUCK is she so much more deserving  to be immortalized in a Mountain and a Freeway than THESE brave Arizona servicemen who were ALSO killed in action in Iraq:

* Marine Sgt. Fernando Padilla-Ramirez, 26, San Luis, Ariz., March 28, 2003, Iraq

* Marine Lance Cpl. Michael J. Williams, 31, Yuma, Ariz., March 23, 2003, Iraq

* Navy Lt. Nathan White, 30, Mesa, Ariz., April 2, 2003, Iraq


This fucking racist BULLSHIT is pissing me off to no end anymore!!!

So-the-fuck what if she was the first "Native American" (yeah-right!) squaw servicemember killed in military duty. SO FUCKING WHAT!

She wasn't killed BECAUSE she's an Indian!

This is a slap in the face and a spit on the grave of the other Arizonans who fought bravely and died in wartime - especially Nathan White from MESA!!!! Name it after HIM, at least he's local to the metropolitan area!

But NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO - we can't honor an evil WHITE MAN in this PC-shit-for-brains, cocksucking, Indian-ass-kissing State of FuckingArizona!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

WHITE MEN are EVIL here!!!

The ONLY noble people in this state are those with redskin!

Fucking pisses me off!

Don/t hold back bro. Tell us how you really feel.

You claim that she has only had this publicity because she is not white.

Others have claimed that the only reason for the publicity around Lynch is she IS white.

Both camps have their heads up their ass.

In any conflict, some events got more news coverage than others, some people become more well known than others.

She gave her life in service to this country. The state of Arizona wants to name a highway after her. You are bothered by this? If so, you are more of an *edit, next time use a more indefinate pronoun* than I had ever previously thought.

Yes, this IS a personal attack. Send me all the IMs you want staff and mods, this one is worth it.

Ummmm ... I don't normally do this, but in this case I'll have to say..  IBTL!

Unfortunately, I only see things like this getting worse and more frequent.  Just when you think it won't get worse it always does.

... You know  how I feel about this crap!

... and even though it's not exclusively her fault I do blame this shit on she-man Janet for promoting it.

... Why couldn't the he-bitch do something constructive for the State as her first move in office? Maybe because she's a fuvcking...   ... DEMOCRAT!

I don't care what kind of liberal BS reason may have led to this happening - but to suggest that, now that it is done, there is something wrong with honoring a dead servicememebr is just not right.

Make some constructive use of your energy and try to get other roads named after Padilla, Willimas, and White - but DO NOT dishonor Piestewa.

Quoted: You claim that she has only had this publicity because she is not white. Others have claimed that the only reason for the publicity around Lynch is she IS white. Both camps have their heads up their ass. In any conflict, some events got more news coverage than others, some people become more well known than others. She gave her life in service to this country. The state of Arizona wants to name a highway after her. You are bothered by this? If so, you are more of an asshole than I had ever previously thought. Yes, this IS a personal attack. Send me all the IMs you want staff and mods, this one is worth it.

Yes I'm bothered by the racism that YOU and the other Indian-ass-kissers in Arizona exhibit who DISREGARD LAWS (mandatory 5-year waiting period before landmarks are named for INDIVIDUALS) JUST because a person is an Indian!!

There's a reason we're required to wait 5 years before naming important landmarks/freeways after  INDIVIDUALS.  

This INDIVIDUAL (Piestewa) has made NO major lasting contribution to the State - and EVERYONE knows that!

If we actually followed the law - hardly anyone would remember her after 5 years. Which is precisely why the waiting period is there for!!!

Barry Goldwater, Dennis Deconcini, Del Webb, Morris Udall, John Kyle, Margaret Hance, Eddie Basha, Ed Pastor, John McCain, Raul Castro, Carl Hayden... THESE are names of the men and women, hispanics and non-hispanics who have made a LASTING impact on the State of Arizona that will long outlive their years on earth and who THEREFORE deserve to be honored with landmarks/freeways named after them.

Piestewa did a service to her nation and state - but her individual actions were NOT ANY MORE significant or deserving than any other US military person who died in war - especially those I mentioned in my first post.

This is a RACIST slap in the face to all the other Arizonans who've died in wars plain and simple.

YOU just seem to be one who LIKES getting slapped in the face and having the memories of EQUALLY important and honorable Non-Indians be denegrated by this RACIST Indian-ass-kissing BULLSHIT.




And I swear - I don't want to have this thread locked because of your asinine "asshole" remark - but if your ad hominem reply stays unedited in this thread - I'll start another and lay this one to waste.

BTW... coming to work the radio traffic reporters simply referred to it as the "51". They used to call it the "Squaw Peak freeway".

I'll never call it by it's official/illegitimate Indian name now - not as a disrespect to Piestewa, but as a sign of respect to ALL of the Arizonans who died in the Iraqi War.


It'll be either the "Squaw Peak Freeway" or simply the "51" to me and my family. Got two sisters and a brother and 11 nephews and 3 nieces - we're ALL white, evil, mean-spirited, racist-conservative "assholes"

I agree, total

Just because she's Indian and died, doesn't mean she should have something named after her.
There are many people who much more deserving of such things.


Added:
Forgot to mention, I'm not white either.

I'd be the last one here to be considered an "Indian ass-kisser", but Jesus, it aint that big of deal. Does this really susbstanitally affect anyone? Sure, tax funds going to re-signing the freeway, and a little pride for a Hopi family on the res, but who gives a fuck?

On a business level, the death of Piestewa was talked about worldwide, putting Arizona on a lot of people's maps. Politicians taking advantage of such opportunity surprises you?

I agree, there are plenty of other Arizonans deserving of such an honor, and they WILL get their own "freeways"(some day), but she too, deserves an honor.

Originally posted by The_Macallan
"This is a RACIST slap in the face to all the other Arizonans who've died in wars plain and simple.

YOU just seem to be one who LIKES getting slapped in the face and having the memories of EQUALLY important and honorable Non-Indians be denegrated by this RACIST Indian-ass-kissing BULLSHIT."

All respect intended to The_Macallan, enough with the racism crap.  If you get this upset over this naming issue, then perhaps it's a good thing you were born white.  Otherwise you would've stroked out a long time ago.

I have the same point of view with a lot of the points you've raised.  Piestewa was serving her country, but she didn't do anything that I believe is worthy of naming a peak after her.  She was part of a convoy that took a wrong turn and paid the price.  She didn't storm a machine gun nest to save her unit or any other Medal of Honor feats.

Napolitano is a feminist who used her position and jumped at the chance to change the name of the peak and make some PR points.  Goldwater, McCain, Basha, and many others regardless of race are without a doubt way more deserving because of their lasting impacts and continued contributions.  

If Janet took a little longer and could get her mind out of the feminist frame of mind, then perhaps she would have realized the right thing to do is honor all the AZ Veterans that have served and died by calling the peak something like Veteran's Memorial Peak, and Veteran's Memorial Parkway.  I'd accept and honor that name change.

Instead of yelling "racism", try and think of a solution, and maybe even do something about it.

1st:  Save your politically charged, profanity filled rants for GD, I don't have time due to the slow server to be goderating.  

2nd:  I understand it's not about Lori Piestewa, but the politiks.

3rd:  You're all assholes, and I mean it.

Locked, and you can all kiss my ass for dirtying up my beautiful forum.  Stuff like this kills the Fung Shui.