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LDAHL
9-1-15, 3:33pm
I had never heard of a president doing this before. Is there some protocol for naming geographical features? It all seems a little autocratic to me.

Ultralight
9-1-15, 3:40pm
I had never heard of a president doing this before. Is there some protocol for naming geographical features? It all seems a little autocratic to me.

This has got to be a joke.

bae
9-1-15, 3:42pm
I believe the President's authority in this matter derives from a 1947-vintage act of Congress establishing the Board on Geographic Names, and placing that under the Secretary of the Interior, an executive branch position in the President's Cabinet.

http://geonames.usgs.gov/domestic/Public_Law_242.pdf

JaneV2.0
9-1-15, 4:05pm
McKinley never set foot in Alaska. The mountain was named by an itinerant miner (IIRC) in honor of the recently-elected president. Denali is the proper name for the mountain, and has been for centuries.

Alan
9-1-15, 4:27pm
McKinley never set foot in Alaska. The mountain was named by an itinerant miner (IIRC) in honor of the recently-elected president. Denali is the proper name for the mountain, and has been for centuries.That's correct, when I lived in Alaska in the mid 70's, all the locals referred to it as Denali and there has been a movement underway for at least that long to have its official designation changed. There's currently a bill in the Congressional queue to make the change official, but apparently that isn't necessary because, well, just because. Who knew we just needed our version of Jean Luc Picard to simply say "Make it so".

bae
9-1-15, 4:31pm
The Secretary of the Interior has had the power to "make it so" since 1947. I believe the Alaska legislature officially named it Denali at the state level in the mid-1970s, and their petition to have the federal-level name changed has been held up by politics for the four decades since then.

Gregg
9-1-15, 5:21pm
There's a movement here to rename Harney Peak, the highest point in the Black Hills of SD, to Black Elk Peak after the man who was a spiritual leader of the Souix nation. The reasoning is a little different, but there are plenty of examples of geographic points being named for conquerors or purchasers and then eventually reverting back to traditional names. It seems clear that the Sec. of the Interior can wave the wand, but I can't quite tell if the President actually has the authority to make it so. As long as no one tugs on the curtain I guess he does...

bae
9-1-15, 5:37pm
Now, to rename the Ohio River to The Palin River.... :-)

LDAHL
9-1-15, 5:38pm
The Secretary of the Interior has had the power to "make it so" since 1947. I believe the Alaska legislature officially named it Denali at the state level in the mid-1970s, and their petition to have the federal-level name changed has been held up by politics for the four decades since then.

This is fascinating. What kind of politics enter into the naming of mountains? What kind of reasons would there be for pro-McKinley or pro-Denali factions to spring up? I can understand generally going by whatever name the locals traditionally used, but it seems petty to declare it invalid just because the namesake never trod there. George Washington never passed through Washington State. Elizabeth I never visited Virginia.

bae
9-1-15, 5:55pm
McKinley was born in Ohio. The Ohio reps have been oppressing the poor people of the State of Alaska. It's just silly.

It's not being declared invalid because McKinley never went there. I think it's being declared "Denali" because that's what everyone in Alaska calls it.

Alan
9-1-15, 6:07pm
McKinley was born in Ohio. The Ohio reps have been oppressing the poor people of the State of Alaska. It's just silly.


Now, to rename the Ohio River to The Palin River.... :-)
The Ohio River happens to belong to Kentucky, and has since the 18th century, before the states of Ohio, Indiana & Illinois were formed. If the President ever visits KY, maybe he could correct Ohio's oppression while waiting for Air Force One to fuel.

JaneV2.0
9-1-15, 6:17pm
Next up--Mount Rainier, which earlier inhabitants named Tahoma, Tacoma, a bunch of other names, and--my favorite--Pooskaus.

bae
9-1-15, 6:38pm
Next up--Mount Rainier, which earlier inhabitants named Tahoma, Tacoma, a bunch of other names, and--my favorite--Pooskaus.

I would totally get behind Pooskaus.

ApatheticNoMore
9-1-15, 6:41pm
I'm mostly meh, what's in a name? But if the residents of Alaska want to call it Denali that's fine with me, afterall they actually live there, and it's a name, it not like it does any harm. The externalities to other states of the name changing is pretty much zero.

I mean yea we could put everything back to it's original native American name but that seems silly too (although much of course is already named with native American names or derivations from native American names - ha and the rest is named by the Spanish! - at least in the southwestern parts of the country). Meanwhile native Americans still often live in poverty while the U.S. government pushes to frack their land and put pipelines on it etc. (a crime in the now, not just a historical crime). So what's in a name. So tired of this politics of symbolism, so tired of it. But .... in theory? OMG, next time I swear I'm going to elect anyone but someone who just manipulates symbols.

freshstart
9-1-15, 8:02pm
The Secretary of the Interior has had the power to "make it so" since 1947. I believe the Alaska legislature officially named it Denali at the state level in the mid-1970s, and their petition to have the federal-level name changed has been held up by politics for the four decades since then.

only 4 decades? come on, they are busy, you know

Williamsmith
9-1-15, 9:00pm
Feds should just leave it up to the states to name their places. For the purposes of federal mapping I'd be in favor of a numbering system. Mountains in descending order by height. So the next President......what's he change the name to? Back to Mt. McKinley? What.....you don't think that can happen? Numbers....simple numbers.

LDAHL
9-2-15, 12:20pm
The Ohio River happens to belong to Kentucky, and has since the 18th century, before the states of Ohio, Indiana & Illinois were formed. If the President ever visits KY, maybe he could correct Ohio's oppression while waiting for Air Force One to fuel.

While he's at it, he should restore the Upper Peninsula to Wisconsin to correct the injustice Ohio and Michigan perpetrated when they settled the Toledo Strip War.

KayLR
9-2-15, 6:01pm
Next up--Mount Rainier, which earlier inhabitants named Tahoma, Tacoma, a bunch of other names, and--my favorite--Pooskaus.

Mt. Baker > Kulshan
Mt. Adams > Pahto
Mt. St. Helens > Loowit

I love the sounds of those names so much more than the "modernized" ones.

razz
9-5-15, 6:09pm
Is Denali not a federal park within which the Mount Denali is situated so it would be out of state authority?

bae
9-5-15, 6:12pm
Is Denali not a federal park within which the Mount Denali is situated so it would be out of state authority?

I think the Federal government owns 60%+ of the state of Alaska. Then again, the whole state was purchased with US tax dollars :-)