Mount McKinley restored to native name of Denali

[Borgholio]

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/31/us/mo ... .html?_r=0

President Obama announced on Sunday that Mount McKinley was being renamed Denali, using his executive power to restore 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 he will make there meant to address the concerns of Alaska Native tribes.

It is the latest bid by the president to fulfill his 2008 campaign promise to improve relations between the federal government and the nation’s Native American tribes, an important political constituency that has a long history of grievances against the government.

Denali’s name has long been seen as one such slight, regarded as an example of cultural imperialism in which a Native American name with historical roots was replaced by an American one having little to do with the place.

The central Alaska mountain has officially been called Mount McKinley for almost 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, freed from the political constraints of an impending election in the latter half of his second term, was also moving to put to rest a yearslong fight over the name of the mountain that has pit Alaska against electorally powerful Ohio, the birthplace of President William McKinley, for whom it was christened in 1896.

The government formally recognized the name in 1917, and efforts to reverse the move began in Alaska in 1975. In an awkward compromise struck in 1980, the national park surrounding it was named Denali National Park and Preserve, but the mountain continued to be called Mount McKinley.

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 change.

In a video released on Sunday, Ms. Murkowski cheered Mr. Obama’s decision.

“For generations, Alaskans have known this majestic mountain as ‘the great one,’” she said in the video, appearing in front of the snow-topped mountain, its peak reaching above the clouds. “I’d like to thank the president for working with us to achieve this significant change to show honor, respect and gratitude to the Athabascan people of Alaska.”

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 on 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, including 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.

Mr. Obama has stepped up his engagement with Native Americans since June last year, when he visited Cannon Ball, N.D., in the ancestral lands of Chief Sitting Bull and took part in a powwow to honor American Indians who have served in America’s foreign wars. That was the first visit by a sitting president in 15 years to land under tribal jurisdiction.

“There’s no denying that for some Americans, the deck’s been stacked against them, sometimes for generations, and that’s been true of many Native Americans,” Mr. Obama said at the time. “But if we’re working together, we can make things better.”

[Grumman]

President Obama announced on Sunday that Mount McKinley was being renamed Denali, using his executive power to restore an Alaska Native name with deep cultural significance to the tallest mountain in North America.
...
Denali, meaning “the high one” or “the great one.”

Calling the tallest mountain "the high one" is not "deep cultural significance". That's just stating the bloody obvious.

[Jub]

Calling the tallest mountain "the high one" is not "deep cultural significance". That's just stating the bloody obvious.

And here we have Grumman, the arbiter of what the natives are allowed to find culturally significant...

[Guardsman Bass]

I can't remember the last time I ever heard or read anyone referring to it as "Mount McKinley". It's almost always called "Denali" even before now.

[Alyrium Denryle]

I can't remember the last time I ever heard or read anyone referring to it as "Mount McKinley". It's almost always called "Denali" even before now.

Self-aggrandizing US president vs what everyone fucking calls it already. No brainer.

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

Calling the tallest mountain "the high one" is not "deep cultural significance". That's just stating the bloody obvious.

Don't need to bother with England, then, since that's just calling it the Land of the Angle(-Saxon)s and also bloody obvious. I henceforth christen that particular arbitrary expanse of land as "Bro-Cap's Isle o' Fun." I've never actually been there, but I assume you don't object.

While we're at it, France "Where the Franks live", Germany "Where those German barbarians live" (or Deutschland "Land of ze Germans", either way it's still obvious), Russia "Where the Rus live", and a zillion other names can be tossed out, since they all obviously refer to who lives there and have no cultural significance whatsoever.

[bilateralrope]

President Obama announced on Sunday that Mount McKinley was being renamed Denali, using his executive power to restore an Alaska Native name with deep cultural significance to the tallest mountain in North America.
...
Denali, meaning “the high one” or “the great one.”

Calling the tallest mountain "the high one" is not "deep cultural significance". That's just stating the bloody obvious.

Did you miss the line that occurs right after the last line you quotes ?

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.

The name is culturally significant because it's the name used in the creation story. Not because of what it translates as.

I can't remember the last time I ever heard or read anyone referring to it as "Mount McKinley". It's almost always called "Denali" even before now.

So there should be few complaints as Obama is just bringing the official name in line with the name everyone uses.

Making me really curious about what is being said by people who oppose this change.

[Gandalf]

A great move, done simply without some silly comprimose.

Making me really curious about what is being said by people who oppose this change.

It's the same crap as usual, about how it's a slap in the face of traditional values, PC this and that, and so on. Some fear that based on this precedent he'll destroy the US.

[Grumman]

Calling the tallest mountain "the high one" is not "deep cultural significance". That's just stating the bloody obvious.

Don't need to bother with England, then, since that's just calling it the Land of the Angle(-Saxon)s and also bloody obvious. I henceforth christen that particular arbitrary expanse of land as "Bro-Cap's Isle o' Fun." I've never actually been there, but I assume you don't object.

While we're at it, France "Where the Franks live", Germany "Where those German barbarians live" (or Deutschland "Land of ze Germans", either way it's still obvious), Russia "Where the Rus live", and a zillion other names can be tossed out, since they all obviously refer to who lives there and have no cultural significance whatsoever.

On the one hand, you have names which are explicitly about the cultural significance of a place. On the other, you have one of ten different ways of saying "the big mountain" or "the tall mountain." There is a difference.

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

On the one hand, you have names which are explicitly about the cultural significance of a place. On the other, you have one of ten different ways of saying "the big mountain" or "the tall mountain." There is a difference.

You missed my point entirely. A stupid amount of toponyms are etymologically self-explanatory. Any map of English geography will tell you this. Newcastle-on-Tyne? Really? How is that different from calling some place Bigmountain? Just because this Alaskan mountain isn't in English doesn't mean its literal meaning somehow lacks cultural significance.

[loomer]

Calling the tallest mountain "the high one" is not "deep cultural significance". That's just stating the bloody obvious.

Don't need to bother with England, then, since that's just calling it the Land of the Angle(-Saxon)s and also bloody obvious. I henceforth christen that particular arbitrary expanse of land as "Bro-Cap's Isle o' Fun." I've never actually been there, but I assume you don't object.

While we're at it, France "Where the Franks live", Germany "Where those German barbarians live" (or Deutschland "Land of ze Germans", either way it's still obvious), Russia "Where the Rus live", and a zillion other names can be tossed out, since they all obviously refer to who lives there and have no cultural significance whatsoever.

On the one hand, you have names which are explicitly about the cultural significance of a place. On the other, you have one of ten different ways of saying "the big mountain" or "the tall mountain." There is a difference.

So are you just a dick, or a completely ignorant twit?

[Edi]

Grumman, are you just trolling? Because it sure looks like that when people have already taken the time to explain the issue.

[Simon_Jester]

On the one hand, if people want to snicker a little from time to time about uncreative names (like "Newcastle-on-Tyne," for that matter), or silly-sounding names... I would think that's okay. I mean, if there's a mountain that Europeans call by the native phrase for "who is this fool who keeps asking what a mountain is," that's worth a laugh.

[RIP Terry Pratchett]

On the other hand, I feel like Grumman is taking it a step too far in the "deliberately and obnoxiously obtuse" direction by repeating the mockery as though he doesn't get why an uncreative-sounding name can be culturally significant.

I can't remember the last time I ever heard or read anyone referring to it as "Mount McKinley". It's almost always called "Denali" even before now.

For one, this means it's going to be called Denali in official publications.

Also, hm. I'd say you'll hear more people calling it "Mount McKinley" if you talk to people in their fifties and sixties.

[Broomstick]

On the one hand, you have names which are explicitly about the cultural significance of a place. On the other, you have one of ten different ways of saying "the big mountain" or "the tall mountain." There is a difference.

Yes, the difference is that "Denali" is the way the natives in the area pronounce "big mountain".

[Borgholio]

Making me really curious about what is being said by people who oppose this change.

Biggest complaint I've heard is that Obama is continuing to degrade the prestige of the white race by making us apologize yet again for stuff we supposedly had the right to do (genocide, taking their land, forced conversion, etc...). Seeing as how Alaskans (native and non-native alike) were calling it Denali for the last 40 years already and the name change was only delayed by some asshole congressmen in Ohio, I haven't seen *too* many complaints. Even some right-wingers are praising it...although questioning the timing of it politically.

Also, hm. I'd say you'll hear more people calling it "Mount McKinley" if you talk to people in their fifties and sixties.

Actually I've always called it Mount Mckinley. It's the name I grew up with. Also held a special place in my heart since I went to McKinley Elementary School. But I have no issues with it reverting to it's proper name. It's just going to take me awhile to break the habit.

[Venator]

As a Canadian I see it referred to as McKinley pretty often in tourism materials etc., "try hiking near beautiful Mt. McKinley (known to Native Americans as 'Denali')", and that sort of thing. So I can see Native groups being happy that everyone reading about/visiting the US will now know it up front by its proper name,

Also, free namesake airtime for GMC and their gussied-up trucks. Peripheral benefits for domestic auto production (or something).

[Broomstick]

I don't understand why people in Ohio feel they have a right to dictate to people in Alaska what a prominent geographical feature should be called.

As for the white people who feel somehow attacked or demeaned by restoring the original name to Denali... get the fuck over yourselves. I'm embarrassed to be the same skin tone as you assholes.

[Borgholio]

I don't understand why people in Ohio feel they have a right to dictate to people in Alaska what a prominent geographical feature should be called.

President McKinley was born in Ohio and was buried there. That makes them feel they have the right (I don't agree, but it's their excuse). Same reason why Illinois doesn't want to get rid of the penny, Lincoln started his career there.

As for the white people who feel somehow attacked or demeaned by restoring the original name to Denali... get the fuck over yourselves. I'm embarrassed to be the same skin tone as you assholes.

Agreed. We actually have a great many skeletons in our closet we have to apologize for. It's not just to appease the non-whites, it's because they really DO deserve an apology. And then some.

[Broomstick]

I don't understand why people in Ohio feel they have a right to dictate to people in Alaska what a prominent geographical feature should be called.

President McKinley was born in Ohio and was buried there. That makes them feel they have the right (I don't agree, but it's their excuse).

Yes, I know that's the excuse. I still don't get it.

To prove this, Alaska should start attempting to rename prominent Ohio locations without consulting Ohio. It's stupid.

[Simon_Jester]

I quite agree, Broomstick. I look forward to information on the boating season for Lake Alaska.

Making me really curious about what is being said by people who oppose this change.

Biggest complaint I've heard is that Obama is continuing to degrade the prestige of the white race by making us apologize yet again for stuff we supposedly had the right to do (genocide, taking their land, forced conversion, etc...)...

They are fools. Even ignoring the question of whether the apologies are warranted... Changing the name of a mountain does not constitute an apology.

[Borgholio]

They are fools.

That's a polite way of putting it. These are the same people who believe Obama should be impeached for... (insert reason of the day here).

[Napoleon the Clown]

President Obama announced on Sunday that Mount McKinley was being renamed Denali, using his executive power to restore an Alaska Native name with deep cultural significance to the tallest mountain in North America.
...
Denali, meaning “the high one” or “the great one.”

Calling the tallest mountain "the high one" is not "deep cultural significance". That's just stating the bloody obvious.

So, are you doing this because you think your culture is superior, or because you're angry a goddamn Democrat did it? I'm feeling generous enough to say that this is all about politics to you and not a case of you thinking your culture is superior. Because as has been mentioned, there are a lot of names that describe the think in the native tongue of the area.

[ThatOneCatC]

I cannot blame the populous of Ohio for this as most of them probably do not know that McKinley was from Ohio let alone there was a mountain named after him. This is a political "lets git them democrats" play pure and simple. Even in the sticks the constituents think our representatives have better things to do.

Shit, all we have to name is soybean and corn fields out here. The biggest mountains are the ones made from salt every winter to keep ice off of the roads.

[LadyTevar]

Ok, short history of "Mount McKinley"

1. Named Denali thousands of years ago by Native Americans, who worshipped it as part of their creation myth.

2. 1896, William Dickey re-discovers the mountain while searching for gold. He names it after the then-presidential candidate from Ohio, William McKinley.

3. 1906, a movement was started to make the land around Denali/McKinley a national park. In 1917, McKinley National Park was born.

4. 1978, Pres. Jimmy Carter declared a separate section (not in the McKinley Park) to be the Denali National Monument.

5. 1980, Denali and McKinley National areas were combined into Denali National Park. Alaska's Board of Geographic Names changes McKinley back to Denali, but the US Board does not. (Politics)

6. 2015, Pres. Barack Obama upholds the Alaska Board of Geographic Names decision, offically restoring the name Denali.


Now... you have to wonder if it was named "Mount Dickey", how much faster it would have been changed back?

[Zaune]

Or if we were talking about the Grand Tetons.