Nearly a decade after former US President Barack Obama renamed the country’s tallest mountain in honor of Alaska’s indigenous community, US President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to restore the country’s unique name.
The 20, 000-foot maximum, located in Denali National Park and Preserve in south-central Alaska, had been known as Mount McKinley since 1917. The name honoured the 25th US senator, William McKinley, who was assassinated in 1901.
However, in 2015, Obama signed an order renaming the mountain Denali, which means” The High One” in the local Athabascan language, reflecting its traditional name among Alaska’s indigenous people, as per the New York Post.
Trump criticized the determination and reiterated his plans to change them during a protest in Phoenix on Sunday. ” They took his name off Mount McKinley”, Trump told his followers. ” He was a great leader. That’s one of the factors we’re going to rename Mount McKinley because I believe he merits it.
William McKinley, senator from 1897, was renowned for his efforts to support US economy through tariff-protective measures and for winning the Spanish-American War. McKinley had never visited the hills and had no considerable historical relations to Alaska, according to critics of Obama’s 2015 purchase.
Local officials had longer fought for governmental recognition of the indigenous title, and Denali had already been recognized as the peak’s brand by the state of Alaska in 1975. According to CNN, Trump reportedly discussed the matter with Alaska’s Republican lawmakers Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan in March 2017. Both lawmakers, however, advised him to keep the title Denali.
The plan to restore Mount McKinley’s brand has sparked controversy over the balance between honoring historical figures and respecting indigenous identity as Trump prepares for his future expression.
