Mount McKinley to be renamed Denali

[ttt]

Seems like a good idea. Glad to see Obama expanding programs for Native Alaskans too. 

www.nytimes.com/2015/08/31/us/mount-mckinley-will-be-renamed-denali.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&_r=0


President Obama announced on Sunday that Mount McKinley was being renamed Denali, restoring an Alaska Native name with deep cultural significance to the tallest mountain in North America.

The move came on the eve of Mr. Obama’s trip to Alaska, where he will spend three days promoting aggressive action to combat climate change, and is part of a series of steps meant to address the concerns of Alaska Native tribes.

The central Alaska mountain has been called Mount McKinley for more than a century. In announcing that Sally Jewell, the secretary of the interior, had used her power to rename it, Mr. Obama was paying tribute to the state’s Native population, which has referred to the site for generations as Denali, meaning “the high one” or “the great one.” The peak, at more than 20,000 feet, plays a central role in the creation story of the Koyukon Athabascans, a group that has lived in Alaska for thousands of years.

Mr. Obama was also putting to rest a yearslong fight over the name of the mountain that has pitted Alaska against Ohio, the birthplace of President William McKinley, for whom it was christened in 1896, while he campaigned for president.

Senator Lisa Murkowski, Republican of Alaska, introduced legislation in January to rename the peak, but Ohio lawmakers sought to block the move. In June, an Interior Department official said in testimony before Congress that the administration had “no objection” to Ms. Murkowski’s proposed name change.

Continue reading the main story
RECENT COMMENTS

Montana Al Just now
I don't know anyone - especially any climbers - who ever called the mountain 'McKinley'. I've always called it Denali.
Tom Van Houten Just now
Seems to me Ohio could name one of their mountains after President McKinley, and while he is at it, he could re-name the DC airport ofter...
ToddT 7 minutes ago
Talk about irrelevant both ways. Denali or Mckinley either name works. I would not bother changing it because it is just a waste of time.
SEE ALL COMMENTS WRITE A COMMENT
The mountain came to be known as Mount McKinley after a gold prospector who had just emerged from exploring the Alaska Range heard that Mr. McKinley had won the Republican presidential nomination, and declared that the tallest peak should be named in his honor as a show of support.

Mr. McKinley was assassinated in 1901, six months into his second term, and never visited Alaska. Mr. Obama’s trip there starting Monday will be his first major visit to the state, and he will become the first sitting American president to visit the Alaskan Arctic.

The White House also announced on Sunday that Mr. Obama was expanding government support for programs to allow Alaska Natives to be more involved in developing their own natural resources. The programs include an initiative to include them in the management of Chinook salmon fisheries, a youth exchange council focusing on promoting “an Arctic way of life” and a program allowing them to serve as advisers to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.

[aurora]

I feel some sort of way about the fact that this is even being described as a "renaming."

Signed,
Someone who has called it Denali all along

[ttt]

Aug 30, 2015 17:21:58 GMT -5 aurora said:

I feel some sort of way about the fact that this is even being described as a "renaming."

Signed,
Someone who has called it Denali all along

Well I guess officially it is since Mount McKinley has been the official government name, even though it's really more like a re-renaming. 

[bronxgirl]

I grew up in Ohio and I've never heard of this controversy or had any idea there was any state loyalty to the McKinley name until I saw the whole thing on John Oliver (or was it Jon Stewart? I can't remember).

[aurora]

Aug 30, 2015 17:29:33 GMT -5 ttt said:

Aug 30, 2015 17:21:58 GMT -5 aurora said:

I feel some sort of way about the fact that this is even being described as a "renaming."

Signed,
Someone who has called it Denali all along

Well I guess officially it is since Mount McKinley has been the official government name, even though it's really more like a re-renaming. 

I reject the government.

(In this case only.)

[NewOrleans]

Tyranny!!!!!

[tacosforlife]

Aug 30, 2015 17:43:45 GMT -5 bronxgirl said:

I grew up in Ohio and I've never heard of this controversy or had any idea there was any state loyalty to the McKinley name until I saw the whole thing on John Oliver (or was it Jon Stewart? I can't remember).

It was Jon Stewart. Jordan Klepper did the story. It was pretty good.

Solid move.

[tripleshot]

As a lifelong Ohioan, I agree with this name change. I also loved The Daily Show segment on it.

[lexxasaurus]

I grew up in Alaska and I have ALWAYS called it Denali. It was weird to me that it had an "official name". I'm happy that's changing.

[cville]

"Denali to be unnamed Mount McKinley"? Ha.

[twohearted]

The Daily show segment was great. I was not aware of this controversy previously. Is there a push to change the name of other geographical landmarks?

[FloFTW]

Huh. I am a lifelong Ohioan and thought it had been changed to Denali a long time ago.

[josieposy]

Aug 30, 2015 21:21:20 GMT -5 twohearted said:

The Daily show segment was great. I was not aware of this controversy previously. Is there a push to change the name of other geographical landmarks?

I know there's a push to rename Devil's Tower and Harney Peak in the Black Hills.

[cattledogkisses]

Aug 30, 2015 21:21:20 GMT -5 twohearted said:

The Daily show segment was great. I was not aware of this controversy previously. Is there a push to change the name of other geographical landmarks?

*

[pixy0stix]

The FB comments on this from the local news are head slap worthy. "The Alaskans didn't want this Nobama!" Then the replies are all, "You didn't read the article, fuckwit."

[josieposy]

One local commenter did give me a small chuckle with #mountainnamesmatter, but the rest have been pretty predictable.

On one side Obama gets all the glory for the years of hard work others put into this, on the other it's just another meaningless gesture. Pick your poison.

[Deleted]

Has Sarah Palin commented on this yet?

[jeaniebueller]

Aug 31, 2015 8:41:31 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

The FB comments on this from the local news are head slap worthy. "The Alaskans didn't want this Nobama!" Then the replies are all, "You didn't read the article, fuckwit."

Ours are exactly the same too. "Obama won't stop until he has ruined EVERYTHING!!!!!"

[cattledogkisses]

Aug 30, 2015 21:21:20 GMT -5 twohearted said:

The Daily show segment was great. I was not aware of this controversy previously. Is there a push to change the name of other geographical landmarks?

This just came across my Facebook feed and I thought of your post. 

news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/09/150901-renaming-mountains-denali-rainier-helens-harney-devils-tower/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Social&utm_content=link_fb20150901news-mountainrename&utm_campaign=Content&sf12686524=1

[emisi]

Good. About the best thing McKinley did was get shot so we could have Teddy Roosevelt.

[oscarnerdjulief]

Sept 1, 2015 16:13:20 GMT -5 emisi said:

Good. About the best thing McKinley did was get shot so we could have Teddy Roosevelt.

This is too flippant.

Our local papers, which are relatively non-partisan and moderate, rejected this decision, calling it "opportunism."  The high school down the street is named McKinley.

[ESF]

Aug 31, 2015 13:26:38 GMT -5 @bugginnine said:

Has Sarah Palin commented on this yet?

I googled this because I was really curious, and I don't think she's said anything yet, but I imagine this puts her in quite a pickle.  

Apparently in previous speeches/appearances years ago, she called it Denali, not Mt. McKinley.  

[emisi]

Sept 1, 2015 16:57:21 GMT -5 oscarnerdjulief said:

Sept 1, 2015 16:13:20 GMT -5 emisi said:

Good. About the best thing McKinley did was get shot so we could have Teddy Roosevelt.

This is too flippant.

Our local papers, which are relatively non-partisan and moderate, rejected this decision, calling it "opportunism."  The high school down the street is named McKinley.

I wasn't actually being flip.  McKinley was handpicked for President by the robber barons of the time so that he would keep legislation in place to make them even richer (Rockefeller, the founder of Standard Oil, was worth the equivalent of half a TRILLION dollars when he died), and Roosevelt was picked as VP to basically bury him as a politician.  He was too noisy, hated the monopolies, and the VP spot was basically considered the black hole of politicians.  Then McKinley was shot, and Teddy became president.  Kind of backfired on the robber barons, since he broke up their monopolies.

[ttt]

Sept 1, 2015 17:24:23 GMT -5 ESF said:

Aug 31, 2015 13:26:38 GMT -5 @bugginnine said:

Has Sarah Palin commented on this yet?

I googled this because I was really curious, and I don't think she's said anything yet, but I imagine this puts her in quite a pickle.  

Apparently in previous speeches/appearances years ago, she called it Denali, not Mt. McKinley.  

[ttt]

Aug 31, 2015 13:26:38 GMT -5 @bugginnine said:

Has Sarah Palin commented on this yet?

"The mountain is part of, as historians have said, the heritage of Alaska and the state always honors, I think, what's important to our values, such as the majesty and you know, so close to Russia where they don't, and we're not Africa, you know, we're America and freedom, and our people agree on that."

[aurora]

Sept 1, 2015 17:24:23 GMT -5 ESF said:

Aug 31, 2015 13:26:38 GMT -5 @bugginnine said:

Has Sarah Palin commented on this yet?

I googled this because I was really curious, and I don't think she's said anything yet, but I imagine this puts her in quite a pickle.  

Apparently in previous speeches/appearances years ago, she called it Denali, not Mt. McKinley.  

Well, she is Alaskan.

[CallingAllAngels]

Sept 1, 2015 19:00:58 GMT -5 ttt said:

Aug 31, 2015 13:26:38 GMT -5 @bugginnine said:

Has Sarah Palin commented on this yet?

"The mountain is part of, as historians have said, the heritage of Alaska and the state always honors, I think, what's important to our values, such as the majesty and you know, so close to Russia where they don't, and we're not Africa, you know, we're America and freedom, and our people agree on that."