It is the highest peak in the United States and is changing its name again. Mount Denali is back in the spotlight following a presidential executive order renaming it Mount McKinley. Explanation.
It didn’t take long. As soon as the inauguration ceremony was over, Donald Trump, the 47th President of the United States, made his comeback at the head of the country and drew his pen to sign decree after decree. From immigration to the economy, from the Paris Agreement to the World Health Organization, the new president is casting a wide net for his second term in the White House.
Among the many executive orders is one renaming the highest peak in the United States. Bearing the evocative title “, this document orders that Mount Denali be renamed Mount McKinley. President Trump also ordered that the Gulf of Mexico be renamed the Gulf of America.
An executive order is a written directive with the force of law that the president issues to government agencies. It is a unilateral decision that must, however, respect the Constitution and the laws passed by Congress. While executive orders enable immediate action to be taken – such as the release of a thousand Capitol rioters whom Trump pardoned on his first day in office – they can be challenged in court and their application suspended. The executive order renaming Mount Denali is therefore fully enforceable, even if it follows a rather unusual procedure.
In the United States, place names are the responsibility of the U.S. Board on Geographic Names, part of the U.S. Geological Survey. The process of changing a place name is usually initiated by state or county residents, supported by politicians, who propose the change. While the process differs from state to state, it follows much the same administrative path. The new name is accepted at local level (the county, for example) before being validated at state level. For national validation, the application is submitted to the U.S. Board on Geographic Names.
In the case of Mount Denali, the name change is not a first. Peaking at over 6,190 metres, this imposing mountain was named by the Native populations who inhabited these lands long before the arrival of the first Russians and gold seekers. The name Denali comes from the Athabascans of Koyukon, who named the mountain “Deenalee”, a term that can be translated as the big or the highest.
Presidential namings
At the end of the 19th century, the mountain was renamed Mount McKinley by a gold prospector wishing to show his support for William McKinley, then a candidate for the country’s presidency.
Born in Ohio, where he was governor, McKinley never set foot in Alaska. Inaugurated in March 1897, McKinley served his first term before being re-elected in 1900. Twenty-fifth President of the United States, McKinley was assassinated on September 14, 1901, while still in office. He was succeeded as President by Vice President Theodore Roosevelt. In 1917, Mount Denali was renamed in his honor.
Called a “great president” by Trump, Republican McKinley was known for his protectionism and imperialism. With tariff increases of up to 50%, the annexation of Hawaii and a stranglehold on Puerto Rico and the Philippines, McKinley’s policies offer parallels with those of Trump. Hence, probably, the desire to bring back into the limelight a president who has been relatively forgotten in favor of a more charismatic Roosevelt.
But let’s get back to our mountain, now called McKinley. For Alaskans, however, it’s still largely known as Denali. In 1975, the Alaska Board of Geographic Names made the name Koyukon official at the state level. A request for a change at federal level was blocked by a congressman from Ohio, McKinley’s home state. At federal level, the mountain will keep the name of the former American president.
Under President Barack Obama, the mountain was finally renamed Denali in 2015. Much to the dismay of Ohio politicians, who resented the change. Barely two years later, Trump, then in his first presidential term, announced his intention to change the mountain’s name again, to the firm refusal of Alaska’s governor and senators. In his second term, having just taken office, Trump signed the famous executive order renaming Mount Denali Mount McKinley. The decree was ratified a few days later by the . The name of the national park and preserve that includes the mountain remains unchanged, however, as Denali National Park and Preserve.
A name that does not meet with unanimous approval
This new christening has sparked off numerous reactions in Alaska, particularly among politicians, including in the Republican ranks. State Senator Lisa Murkowski, for example, has already stated her disagreement with the decree on the X social network.
For their part, the Alaska Natives recalled the deep, age-old bond between native peoples and their homeland. An important reminder at a time when another decree, concerning the abolition of the constitutional right to land, a constitutional right,
Mirjana Binggeli, Polar Journal AG
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