U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski has escalated her ongoing dispute with President Donald Trump by introducing a bill that would officially recognize North America’s tallest peak as “Denali” in all U.S. government references.
The legislation would mandate that all federal laws, maps, regulations, and records refer to the mountain by the name long used by one set of Alaska Natives — the Koyukon Athabascans. Other Natives have used other names for the mountain, which was officially named McKinley by President Woodrow Wilson, who signed a law passed by Congress to name it after the president who had been assassinated.
“In Alaska, it’s Denali,” Murkowski affirmed in a press release. “Once you see it in person, take in its majesty, and breathe in its cold air, you understand why the Koyukon Athabascans called it ‘The Great One.’ This isn’t a political issue – Alaskans from all walks of life have long advocated for the rightful recognition of its name. That’s why today I once again introduced legislation to ensure ‘Denali’ remains its official name.”
The dispute over the mountain’s name dates back decades. In 1975, the State of Alaska officially recognized “Denali” and requested that the U.S. Board of Geographic Names follow suit. In 1980, Congress renamed Mount McKinley National Park as Denali National Park and Preserve. In 2015, President Obama’s Department of the Interior officially named the mountain Denali.
However, last month, Trump signed an executive order titled “Restoring Names That Honor American Greatness,” directing the Department of the Interior to revert the mountain’s name to Mount McKinley.
Murkowski’s latest legislative effort follows a unanimous resolution passed by the Alaska State Senate recently, urging the President, the Secretary of the Interior, and the U.S. Board on Geographic Names to maintain the name Denali.
Sen. Dan Sullivan signed onto the bill as a sponsor.
Some have suggested an unlikely compromise, with a tongue-in-cheek combination of words to name it Mount McNali.
