America’s highest mountain, a household name and the answer to countless geography quiz questions, is about to get a new name.
President
Obama in Anchorage on Monday will announce the renaming of Mount
McKinley, honoring the 25th president, to Mount Denali, an Athabascan
name used by generations of Alaska Natives that means “the great one.”
The
White House said Obama would rename the continent’s tallest peak in
order to improve relations with Native Americans. As a central part of
the Athabascan creation story, Denali carries cultural importance to
many Alaska Natives.
Julie Kitka, president of the Alaska
Federation of Natives, said in an interview Sunday that the new policy
announcement would have a concrete as well as psychological effect on
Alaska Natives. “It’s symbolic,” Kitka said, “but the practical thing is
now on all the maps and all the descriptions it will have the
traditional name. That is wonderful, it is timely and the right thing to
do.”
William McKinley, an Ohio politician elected president in
1896 and assassinated just six months into his second term, never set
foot in Alaska.
In 1896, a gold prospector exploring
the mountains of central Alaska received news that McKinley, a defender
of the gold standard, had been nominated as a candidate for president.
“In a show of support, the prospector declared the tallest peak of the
Alaska Range as ‘Mt. McKinley’ — and the name stuck,” the White House
said.
Since then, there have been efforts to change the name to Denali.
Alaskan
elected officials have tried several times since 1975 to get the U.S.
Board on Geographic Names to consider making Denali official. In 1980,
the park surrounding the peak was renamed Denali. Alaska Sen. Lisa
Murkowski (R) recently included language in a spending bill to restore
the mountain’s native name.
But the Obama administration says
Interior Secretary Sally Jewell has the authority to change the name
under a 1947 law that established the naming board if the board does not
act within a reasonable time.
“In
changing the name from Mount McKinley to Denali, we intend no
disrespect to the legacy of President McKinley,” said Interior
Department officials said in prepared documents. “We are simply
reflecting the desire of most Alaskans to have an authentically Alaskan
name for this iconic Alaskan feature.”
Earlier, the Columbus
Dispatch newspaper said it was time to “end the perennial defensive
action” by the Ohio delegation. It said, “Ohio’s congressional
representatives should let Denali be Denali.”
Sen.
Rob Portman (R-Ohio) fired off several tweets Sunday evening indicating
that he was “disappointed” with the move to jettison McKinley’s name.
“This
decision by the Administration is yet another example of the President
going around Congress,” he tweeted, adding a moment later, “I urge Admin
2 work w/ me 2 find alternative ways 2 honor McKinley’s legacy
somewhere else in the natl park that once bore his name.”
Juliet Eilperin contributed to this report
source from http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/obama-will-rename-the-highest-us-peak-dropping-mckinley-for-denali/2015/08/30/c9f822ee-4f4b-11e5-8c19-0b6825aa4a3a_story.html
