California could soon rename its first state park since announcing its intention last year to examine discriminatory names within the state park system.
The state's parks department on Friday announced it intends to rename Patrick's Point State Park in Humboldt County to Sue-meg State Park following a formal request from the Yurok Tribe.
Sue-meg is "the original place name for this area used by the Yurok people since time immemorial," California State Parks said in the release. "Patrick’s Point" refers to Patrick Beegan, an Irish homesteader "who was accused of murdering numerous Native Americans."
"It is no longer acceptable to name important places after murderers of indigenous people," Yurok Tribe Chairman Joseph James said in a statement on Friday. "We ask the community to accept the name change because it will ensure the next generation inherits a more just world."
California State Parks will recommend to the California State Park and Recreation Commission on Sept. 30 to rename the park to Sue-meg State Park, and the parks and recreation department is accepting feedback via email until the end of Sept. 28.
Last September, California announced its "Reexamining Our Past Initiative," in which officials would identify features of California State Parks and transportation systems with discriminatory and offensive names. The announcement was made following a national reckoning with problematic historic namesakes, statues and monuments last summer, in the aftermath of George Floyd's murder by a Minneapolis police officer.
Sutter’s Fort and Santa Cruz Mission, a pair of State Historic Parks, previously released statements acknowledging each location's role in the state's mistreatment and displacement of Native Americans and stating intentions to provide visitors with a fuller history. California State Parks continues to also seek input on a new name for Negro Bar in the Folsom Lake State Recreation Area that honors Black miners' contributions at the site "while still remaining culturally appropriate."
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