US Geological Survey (USGS) Meeting Minutes of the Special Committee on Native American Names and Tribal Communications (SCNANTC), 2020-2025

The U.S. Board of Geographic Names, part of USGS, officially designates place names across federal land and features. The Special Committee on Native American Names and Tribal Communications incorporates Native American representatives into that process. These meeting minutes record what names were proposed, debated, and adopted over five years. They document the work of formal reconciliation: correcting place names that carry outdated or offensive language, incorporating Native names alongside or instead of colonial ones, and establishing process for tribal input in geographic naming. The minutes show how federal geographic naming authority operates in partnership with tribal governments, a procedural record of how official map-making accommodates Native American perspectives.