the secretary of the interior changed the name of mount mckinley to denali in 1975.
the secretary of the interior changed the name of mount mckinley to denali in 1975.
when did the secretary of the interior change the name of mount mckinley to denali?
1975
in february 2015, in response to the objections from ohio, senator lisa murkowski of alaska, a republican, said: "there's a lot of things in ohio that are already named after mckinley. this is no affront to our former president; this is all about ensuring that respect for the land and respect for the native people of the region is afforded." ohio native and junior alaska senator dan sullivan, a republican, said he was "gratified" that president obama changed the name. alaska governor bill walker, an independent, said, "alaska's place names should reflect and respect the rich cultural history of our state, and officially recognizing the name denali does just that." on august 30, 2015, speaking from denali's ruth glacier, senator murkowski said, "for centuries, alaskans have known this majestic mountain as the 'great one'. 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."
denali–mount mckinley naming dispute
the name of mount mckinley national park was subject to local criticism from the beginning of the park. the word denali means "the high one" in the native athabaskan language and refers to the mountain itself. the mountain was named after newly elected us president william mckinley in 1897 by local prospector william a. dickey. the united states government formally adopted the name mount mckinley after president wilson signed the bill creating mount mckinley national park into effect in 1917. in 1980, mount mckinley national park was combined with denali national monument, and the alaska national interest lands conservation act named the combined unit the denali national park and preserve. at that time the alaska state board of geographic names changed the name of the mountain to denali. however, the u.s. board on geographic names did not recognize the change and continued to denote the official name as mount mckinley. this situation lasted until aug. 30, 2015, when president barack obama directed secretary of the interior sally jewell to rename the mountain to denali, using statutory authority to act on requests when the board of geographic names does not do so in a "reasonable" time period.
denali national park and preserve