So long, McKinley! Hello, Denali! Niles-born US president's name removed from Alaska mountain peak

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

North America’s tallest peak is getting a new name as the administration resolves a decades-long dispute between Alaska and Ohio.

President Barack Obama will announce Monday that his administration is officially redesignating Alaska’s Mount McKinley as Denali, the original name for the 20,237-foot-high mountain given by the area’s Alaskan native population.

The announcement will come as the president begins a three-day visit to Alaska focused on the issue of climate change, one of Obama’s chief policy focuses as he enters his final year and a half in office.

“This name change recognizes the sacred status of Denali to many Alaska natives,” Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said in a statement, noting that the mountain had been known as Denali for generations.

According to the White House, a prospector called the peak Mount McKinley as a tribute to William McKinley upon his nomination as a candidate for president in 1896, and “the name stuck.”

McKinley, the nation’s 25th president, was assassinated six months into his second White House term. He never set foot in Alaska.

The state of Alaska changed the mountain’s name to Denali, the native Koyukon Athabascan word for “The Great One” or “The High One,” in 1975. But the federal government retained McKinley’s moniker.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, chairwoman of the Senate Energy Committee, had introduced legislation to change the federal designation. Alaska GOP Sen. Daniel Sullivan, who was born in Ohio, is a co-sponsor.

Ohio’s congressional delegation, among others, has opposed removing the name of McKinley, who had been an Ohio governor.

Murkowski hailed Obama’s decision Sunday.

“For centuries, Alaskans have known this majestic mountain as the ’Great One,’ ” she said in a statement from Denali’s Ruth Glacier. “Today we are honored to be able to officially recognize the mountain as Denali. 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.”

Alaska Gov. Bill Walker also lauded the change. “Alaska’s place names should reflect and respect the rich cultural history of our state, and officially recognizing the name Denali does just that,” he said in a statement.