The new administration seems to be hung up on changing the names of everything — making it even more difficult for people lie me to know were we are. According to the new boss, the Gulf or Mexico is now the Gulf of America, and he’s designating the tallest peak in North America — standing 20,310 feet — to be labeled Mt. McKinley.
Not that the new guy cares about history, but for many generations, native people lived around the mountain. Different tribes had a variety of names for it, but they all generally meant the same thing — “the great one” or “the high one.”
The name Mt. Mckinley was given to the mountain by a gold prospector some years ago. Indians have always had the view that commemorative names like Mt. McKinley are inappropriate — humans are too small, too fleeting and insignificant to have places named for them.
Until a few days ago, the peak had been officially renamed Denali during the Obama administration. The name Denali is from Alaska’s Athabaskan people — it translates roughly to “The Great One.”
Changing the name to Mt. McKinley was apparently advocated by politicians, including Republicans from Ohio — McKinley’s home state. Their reasoning was that they wanted to recognize the legacy of a historic national figure. I think the Indians had it right…. humans are too small and insignificant — Denali means The Great One — guess what the next name for that mountain will be — by executive order…….
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