Contest

Alpenans offer suggestions for bay name change

ALPENA -- With less than a week left to weigh in on a new moniker for a local bay, Alpena leads the country in speaking its mind to the federal government.

Locals have suggested more than 35 names for the Alpena bay since the U.S. Department of the Interior said it would change names of 660 federally owned places containing a word recently declared an ethnic, racial, and sexist slur toward Native American women.

It gave residents until April 25 to suggest new names.

Since then, a government website has logged more than 675 comments from around the country, about 200 of which offer new names for government consideration.

Almost half of those 200 suggestions relate to the Alpena bay south of Partridge Point along U.S.-23 South.

Many people nationwide voiced opinions for or against the Department of the Interior's edict, some calling it a long-needed fix and others decrying it as a waste of taxpayer money.

Only in Alpena, however, did residents embrace the chance to have a say in what comes next.

Whether residents agree or not, the Alpena bay's name will change, at least in the government's eyes, said Marj Brandenburg, great-granddaughter of a man credited by some with giving the bay its current name.

People who care about the bay might as well step up to the microphone and suggest a new name for it, she said.

"It's not a for-or-against," said Brandenburg, who offered a name idea on the government website. "It's a foregone conclusion."

'A REAL PERSON'

Of the at least 75 people who have shared Alpena-specific comments with the Department of the Interior, many referenced the bay name's origin, as reported by two local historians.

Robert Haltiner, in a book claiming to provide Native American versions of local history, said tribal members named the bay in honor of a woman named Birdsong, who wept on its shore when the man she loved failed to return from a fishing expedition in Lake Huron.

Another story, recorded by early land surveyor David Oliver, said a fisherman crossing the frozen bay startled the daughter of Chief Mich-e-ke-wis, a Chippewa chief who in the early 1850s lived on the spit of land now called Partridge Point, to the bay's north.

Oliver said he named the bay referencing the daughter, whose name Oliver recorded as Na-o-tayke-zhick-co-quay.

Brandenburg, Oliver’s great-granddaughter and one-time Alpena resident who now lives downstate, suggested the government name the bay Nay-o-tay Bay, a shortening of the daughter's name and a word Brandenburg said translates to "ray of light."

"It's kind of like, hey. She's a real person," said Brandenburg. "She has a name."

ONE BAY, MANY IDEAS

Suggested by at least 14 people, Birdsong Bay tops the name idea list for the Alpena bay.

Commenters link the name to both Haltiner's story of the crying woman and to the profusion of birds often lingering in and near the bay, including great blue herons, egrets, eagles, bitterns, osprey, and cormorants.

Other suggestions include words used by tribal nations who once lived in Northeast Michigan.

With suggestions like Sunrise Bay and Tranquility Bay, some commenters point to the area's natural beauty.

A handful of commenters think a shift to Squall Bay would retain the sound of the current name while reflecting the seasonal storms that sometimes rage over the flat bay and shake drivers on U.S.-23 South.

Many suggestions give a nod to the bay's location, with at least a dozen votes for variations of Halfway Bay or other names reflecting the bay's seat directly on the 45th Parallel, half way between the North Pole and the equator.

A few commenters vented apparent frustration through such suggestions as Cancel Culture Bay or veered toward the lighthearted with suggestions like Awopbopaloobop Alopbam Bay.

'WORDS MATTER'

Many people offering comments, both in Alpena and elsewhere, support removing the derogatory word from place names.

Others call the effort ridiculous.

Some, including people professing to have Native American backgrounds, said the derogatory word only means "woman" and should not cause offense.

Others worry that the government, in addressing place names, is overlooking other, more serious concerns, such as an ongoing high rate of physical abuse toward Native American women.

Still others, including in Alpena, said removing the word erases history.

The majority of commenters, however, applauded the decision to eliminate the word.

Many people thanked the Department of the Interior for recognizing the word's history of usage to demean and belittle the women of a particular culture.

"The words we use matter," said one anonymous commenter, reflecting an opinion voiced by hundreds of people across the country. "We can't keep pretending that they don't affect people, or that the people they affect don't matter."

A representative of the Board of Geographic Names, which has final say in the renaming, said a decision about a new name for Alpena’s bay could take until the end of September.

The board takes every recommendation seriously, no matter the size of the geographic location, the representative told The News.

Julie Riddle can be reached at 989-358-5693 or jriddle@thealpenanews.com. Follow her on Twitter @jriddleX.

To suggest a name

Residents may suggest new names for the bay south of Partridge Point in Alpena through April 25.

∫ Visit regulations.gov. Enter DOI-2022-0001 in the search bar and click "Search."

∫ Click "Comment" under Reconciliation of Derogatory Geographic Names.

∫ Share suggested names in the Comment box. Also include the following:

"Agency name: Geological Survey; Feature ID: 638662; Docket number: GX22EF00COM000."

∫ Commenters may include explanations of their name suggestions and may attach photos or documents if desired.

Name suggestions for Alpena bay

Potential names for the bay south of Partridge Point in Alpena, submitted to the U.S. Department of the Interior, with multiple submissions indicated in parentheses.

Birdsong Bay (14)

Eagle Bay/Bald Eagle Bay/Eagle's Nest Bay (5)

Egret Bay

Kingfisher Bay

Loon Lagoon

Partridge Bay

Otter Bay

Nature's Bay (2)

Sunrise Bay/Sunrise Cove (5)

Squall Bay (5)

Lightning Bay

Tranquility Bay

Echo Bay

Anamakee Bay (3)

Three Fires Bay

Na-o-tay Bay

Hurit Bay

Giizhigokwe Bay

Mourning Bay (2)

Princess Bay

Halfway Bay (6)

Midway Bay

Parallel Bay/45th Parallel Bay/Bay 45 (6)

Partridge Bay (3)

Alpena Bay/South Bay/Alpena South Bay (3)

Island Bay

Up North Bay

Alpeke Bay

Lyngos Bay

Haltiner Bay

Forties and Sporties Bay

Cancel Culture Bay

Awopbopaloobop Alopbam Bay