Top line
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday renaming Denali, North America’s highest peak, to Mount McKinley, the Alaska mountain’s name before 2015, a move he has suggested in the past to honor tariff-friendly former president William McKinley, but in Alaska. lawmakers do not support the name change.
A boat is seen on the Susitna River near Talkeetna, Alaska, Sunday, June 13, 2021, with Denali at … (+)
Key facts
Trump signed the order hours after returning to the presidency, having said in his speech after being sworn in: “we will restore the name of a great president, William McKinley, to Mount McKinley, where it should be and in his place. »
The park that contains the mountain is still called Denali National Park and Preserve, according to the order.
Denali had officially been called Mount McKinley in the eyes of the government since 1917, and the debate over its name had been going on for just as long, if not longer, with the Koyukon Athabascan people who lived near the mountain and called it Denali.
It was first named Mount McKinley in 1896 by prospector William Dickey, who named it after McKinley, then a presidential candidate.
In 1916, before the area was named a national park, Charles Sheldon petitioned the Alaska Engineering Commission to name it “Mount Denali National Park” so that the true ancient Indian (sic) name of the mountain Denali (meaning “the Great”) will thus be preserved,” according to the National Park Service.
In 1917, however, the park was named “Mount McKinley National Park”, although this was inconsistent with Athabascan tradition, as they generally did not name places after people.
According to the NPS, a renaming effort began in 1975, when the State of Alaska requested that the name be officially changed to Denali, and in 1980, despite official efforts failing, Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act changed the name of the park. at Denali National Park and Preserve.
Eventually, in 2015, President Barack Obama restored Denali’s name in part to fulfill his campaign promise to improve relations between the federal government and Native American tribes, The New York Times reported.
McKinley never visited the mountain and had no significant historical connection to the area, according to the resolution that ultimately renamed it.
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Trump renames Gulf of Mexico ‘Gulf of America’
Denali isn’t the only name change Trump is considering. The same executive order also renamed the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America, a subject he has spoken about regularly in recent weeks. In early January, Trump said he was seeking to change his name in retaliation for immigration from Mexico, which he called “a very dangerous country.”
To watch
Trump ordered that the Geographic Names Information System — a federal catalog containing the names of geographic entities — be updated within 30 days to reflect name changes.
Chief Spokesperson
Alaska’s two senators, both Republicans, have opposed changing the name of Denali to Mount McKinley for months. Sen. Lisa Murkowski tweeted Monday: “I strongly disagree with the President’s decision on Denali. Our nation’s highest mountain, which has been called Denali for thousands of years, must continue to be known by the rightful name assigned by the Koyukon Athabascans of Alaska, who have stewarded the land since time immemorial. Senator Dan Sullivan has also previously stated that he “prefers the name that the very tough, very strong, very patriotic Athabaskan people gave the mountain thousands of years ago.”
Why does Trump like McKinley?
Trump has praised McKinley, the 25th president, in the past because of the tariffs he put in place. As a representative, McKinley introduced the McKinley Tariff, which was passed in 1890 and significantly increased taxes on foreign goods. Trump himself has said he wants to raise tariffs and has proposed a universal tariff on almost all imports as well as higher levies on products from China, Canada and Mexico.
News
Trump was inaugurated as the 47th president Monday afternoon and made the comment about Denali in his speech after being sworn in. His inauguration was historic: he became the oldest to ever be inaugurated and the second in history to serve two non-consecutive terms. Trump spoke about immigration policies, ending “the unjust militarization of our Justice Department” and a number of other points he made regularly during his campaign. (Read live updates from the inauguration here.)
Further reading
