Photo courtesy of the National Parks Service.
This past Monday, following Donald Trump's inauguration as the 47th president of the United States, I read in the news about his first round of executive orders. Among the list, I was distressed to see an order to rename Alaska’s and North America’s tallest mountain, Denali, to the American-given name of Mount McKinley. I find this action disgraceful, as it snubs Alaskans in their history and values.
Growing up in Alaska, the name of our dear mountain was always Denali, even if unofficially. I remember, in my curious youth, eventually asking my grandmother, “Who is McKinley?”
She explained that he was an Ohio politician who became president of the United States some time ago. It was apparent even in my youth, that his connection to Alaska was dubious at best, considering the man had never even stepped foot in Alaska.
The name of Alaska’s tallest mountain has a small precedent of naming disputes, often between Alaskan interests of keeping the mountain’s ancestral name, and the interests of honoring the former 19th century president, William McKinley.
“Denali,” roughly meaning “tall one,” has historical and cultural significance as a name to Alaska, as it is the Koyukon Athabaskan name for the mountain since time immemorial. McKinley only started to be used in the wake of the 20th century, after a mining prospector hoping to support the McKinley presidential campaign gave the mountain the name Mount McKinley. The name stuck, largely due to McKinley’s assassination in 1901.
The move to change the name back to Denali was pushed politically by Alaskan legislators, governors, activists, Native Alaskan peoples, rights groups and a wide array of the Alaskan general public who had always colloquially called the mountain Denali.
It was in 1975 that the Alaska Legislature and Governor J. S. Hammond submitted a resolution to the Department of the Interior, requesting that the name be changed from Mount McKinley to Denali by the U.S. Board of Geographic Names.
In 2015, the Obama Administration fulfilled the will of the Alaskan people, officially changing the name of the iconic mountain to Denali. The name change was widely popular with the Alaskan populace.
As an Alaskan, I wholeheartedly disagree with this move by our president and feel that it is an insult to Alaskan people and culture. President Trump stated in his inaugural address that the reasoning for changing Denali’s name to McKinley was to “restore the name of a great president, William McKinley, to Mount McKinley, where it should be and where it belongs.”
Trump also remarked on how “McKinley made our country very rich through tariffs” and that “he was a natural businessman.” It is my opinion that President Trump’s decision to change Denali’s name back to McKinley is flagrantly prompted by personal aesthetics and political messaging, rather than concern for Alaskans’ culture or opinions.
The president’s push to “honor” the late McKinley is motivated by his recent obsession with economic tariffs and U.S. protectionism. This obsession has superseded any respect or consideration for Alaska.
The general consensus I have gathered from conversing about this topic with friends, family and colleagues on campus is that the change is a surprise to them — and an unwelcome one at that.
When Native Alaskan and American Indian traditional names are already few and undermined in their recognition in the modern day, taking away the already popular Koyukon name from the famed mountain is at the very least incredibly disrespectful to the Alaskan identity. The move is merely political and self-serving, orchestrated by an administration uncaring of Alaskan interests.
The name reversal is insulting to me as an Alaskan. The name of Alaska’s tallest mountain is now, and should always remain Denali.
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