Mount McKinley, now known as Denali, was named by prospector William Dickey in 1896 after hearing of William McKinley's presidential nomination. Despite its official naming in 1917, Denali had long been known by its native Koyukon name. In 2015, President Obama restored the name Denali, emphasizing its cultural significance. However, recent actions by President Trump have sparked controversy as he reinstated the McKinley name, rekindling the longstanding debate over the importance of recognizing indigenous names and heritage in American geography.
In 2015 President Barack Obama officially restored that name, noting that McKinley had never set foot in Alaska and that Denali is a site of significant cultural importance to many Alaska Natives.
...the British-born mountaineer Hudson Stuck...called for the restoration to the greatest mountain in North America of its immemorial native name...pointed out a certain ruthless arrogance that contemptuously ignores the native names.
When he emerged from the Alaskan interior, the first news he heard was that William McKinley, the former governor of Ohio, had received the Republican nomination for president.
Now President Trump has done exactly that. In one of the first acts on his return to the White House, he issued an executive order restoring McKinley as the mountain's official name.
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