Alaskans Vow Pushback if Trump Targets Mountain's New Name
Alaskans Vow Pushback if Trump Targets Mountain's New Name
Associated Press via voanews.com | November 20, 2016
Image: Denali, Mt. McKinley at the time, is seen on a sunny day
Aug. 19, 2011 ...
pic_2016-11-26_095712z.jpg
Associated Press via voanews.com | November 20, 2016
ANCHORAGE, ALASKA - Among Donald Trump's many promises on his way
to the White House was a tweeted vow to change the new name of
North America's tallest mountain back to Mount McKinley.
The Obama administration renamed the Alaska peak Denali in a
symbolic gesture to Alaska Natives ahead of the president's visit
to the state last year.
Alaskans long have informally called the mountain Denali – "the
great one" in Athabascan. But the federal government recognized
the name invoking the 25th president, William McKinley, who was
born in Ohio and assassinated early in his second term. McKinley
never set foot in Alaska.
In his tweet, Trump called the name switch a "great insult to
Ohio."
But if he indeed moves to undo it, Trump can expect pushback from
Alaskans.
"We wanted that change for a long time, and now we finally have
it, and we need to leave it alone," said Victor Joseph, president
of Tanana Chiefs Conference, a consortium of 42 Athabascan tribes
in Interior Alaska. The organization spent years advocating for
what they consider the 20,310-foot (6190 M) peak's original name.
"It was an insult to the first people of this land when they took
away the name and gave it to somebody else," Joseph said.
It's unclear at this early stage if Trump will take action.
Changing the name would require a presidential executive order or
an act of Congress, according to the federal board that oversees
place names.
Troy Eid, chairman of the Indian Law and Order Commission and a
member of Trump's transition team, said in an email Tuesday he
was not in a position to comment.
The three Republicans who make up Alaska's congressional
delegation either declined to comment or did not respond to
requests for comment. Senator Lisa Murkowski - who called for
Trump to leave the Republican ticket after the emergence of a
recording of Trump making lewd comments about women - long
advocated for the mountain's Alaska Native name and thanked
President Barack Obama for embracing it. ...
to the White House was a tweeted vow to change the new name of
North America's tallest mountain back to Mount McKinley.
The Obama administration renamed the Alaska peak Denali in a
symbolic gesture to Alaska Natives ahead of the president's visit
to the state last year.
Alaskans long have informally called the mountain Denali – "the
great one" in Athabascan. But the federal government recognized
the name invoking the 25th president, William McKinley, who was
born in Ohio and assassinated early in his second term. McKinley
never set foot in Alaska.
In his tweet, Trump called the name switch a "great insult to
Ohio."
But if he indeed moves to undo it, Trump can expect pushback from
Alaskans.
"We wanted that change for a long time, and now we finally have
it, and we need to leave it alone," said Victor Joseph, president
of Tanana Chiefs Conference, a consortium of 42 Athabascan tribes
in Interior Alaska. The organization spent years advocating for
what they consider the 20,310-foot (6190 M) peak's original name.
"It was an insult to the first people of this land when they took
away the name and gave it to somebody else," Joseph said.
It's unclear at this early stage if Trump will take action.
Changing the name would require a presidential executive order or
an act of Congress, according to the federal board that oversees
place names.
Troy Eid, chairman of the Indian Law and Order Commission and a
member of Trump's transition team, said in an email Tuesday he
was not in a position to comment.
The three Republicans who make up Alaska's congressional
delegation either declined to comment or did not respond to
requests for comment. Senator Lisa Murkowski - who called for
Trump to leave the Republican ticket after the emergence of a
recording of Trump making lewd comments about women - long
advocated for the mountain's Alaska Native name and thanked
President Barack Obama for embracing it. ...
Image: Denali, Mt. McKinley at the time, is seen on a sunny day
Aug. 19, 2011 ...
pic_2016-11-26_095712z.jpg
Comment