JUNEAU, Alaska — The Alaska House on Monday voted to urge President Donald Trump to reverse course and retain the name of North America’s tallest peak as Denali.
The vote came a week after Trump, on his first day in office, signed an executive order calling for the name to revert to Mount McKinley. Through his action, the president revived an idea he had floated years earlier — one the state’s Republican U.S. senators and many Alaskans have opposed.
Monday’s vote was 28-10, though notice of reconsideration was given, meaning the resolution could be voted on again before being sent to the Senate.
The Alaska House is led by a majority coalition that is composed largely of Democrats but also includes independents and two Republicans. The resolution came from Rep. Maxine Dibert, a Democrat who is Koyukon Athabascan. She noted that Denali is a Koyukon Athabascan word meaning “the high one,” but said Denali is not just a name.
“It’s a symbol of history. It’s a symbol of culture and a symbol of respect,” Dibert said.
Minority Republicans sought unsuccessfully to amend the resolution to add language expressing “gratitude” to Trump for a separate order aimed at boosting oil and gas drilling, mining and logging in the state. Some of them said that approach seemed appropriate, given this will likely be the first formal message the Legislature sends to the Trump administration.
Rep. Kevin McCabe, a Republican, said he thought adding supportive language around the executive order on resources would strengthen the overall aim. “Perhaps that’s the best way to unite us and unite this resolution, and say, ‘Hey, President Trump, thanks for doing all this. Could you possibly stop the renaming of Denali?’”
According to the National Park Service, a prospector in 1896 dubbed the peak Mount McKinley for William McKinley of Ohio, who was elected president that year. McKinley had never been to Alaska.
The name would go on to be formally recognized by the U.S. government until it was changed in 2015 by the Obama administration to Denali. The name change reflected the traditions of Alaska Natives and the preference of many Alaskans, underscored by a push by state leaders decades earlier. The 20,310-foot (6,190-meter) mountain in Denali National Park and Preserve on clear days can be see from hundreds of miles away.
The Interior Department last week announced efforts were underway to implement Trump’s renaming order, even though state leaders don’t see the matter as settled yet.
Alaska Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan last week said his preference is for “the name the patriotic, strong Athabascan people gave that great mountain thousands of years ago: Denali. We’ll continue the discussions with the Trump administration on that.” Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy has said that he hopes to have a discussion with the president about the mountain next month in Washington.
