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Restore mountain’s Denali name to celebrate Native American culture

Native American cultures may have something to teach us about maintaining a right relationship with our environment

by William McQuilkin
June 26, 2025
in Commentary
0

By William McQuilkin, retired U.S. Navy rear admiral

I was in Anchorage, Alaska, in August of 2015 when the U.S. Interior Secretary officially changed the name of Mount McKinley to Denali. The front page of the Alaska Dispatch News led with the headline: “It’s Official: It’s Denali.”

A sign at Denali National Park and Preserve. The park's name was changed from Mount McKinley National Park in 1980. (National Park Service Digital Image Archives, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
A sign at Denali National Park and Preserve, changed from Mount McKinley National Park in 1980. (National Park Service Digital Image Archives, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

At a reception later that evening, I was talking to some Alaskan Native people, and they were so pleased with the announcement. The Athabascan people had called the mountain Denali for thousands of years. So, when the incoming Trump administration changed the name back to Mount McKinley, it caused me to reflect about what’s in a name and what this move might mean to our Native American family.

The late Native American author N. Scott Momaday wrote of “a continuum of language that goes back thousands of years before the printing press” and about the importance of oral tradition and Indigenous expression. I think we need to think carefully and with respect before we change names that were meant to honor Native Americans.

The Native names also add to the rich tapestry of our English language. I fondly remember canoeing or boating on Florida spring-fed rivers with dulcet-toned names like the Suwannee, Ichetucknee and Ocklawaha.

A deeper reflection might acknowledge that, more than just a name, Native American cultures may have something to teach us about maintaining a right relationship with our environment. Conservationist Aldo Leopold wrote of the need for a “land ethic” as an “ecological necessity.”

For Native Americans, maintaining a harmonious balance with nature is a way of life. In these important times when there is important work to do to ensure that we have a livable planet, we might do well to learn from this and rediscover our own relationship to the natural world.

William C. McQuilkin
William C. McQuilkin

We know how to recognize and acknowledge the important history and cultural contributions of Native peoples (or our whole human family, for that matter). We have done this before. High above the Arctic Circle in Greenland, the U.S. Space Force Thule Air Base was renamed Pituffik Space Base to honor and recognize traditional Greenlandic cultural heritage. The base performs important and necessary missions in missile defense and space surveillance, and this could not be accomplished without the support and human connection of the local Greenlandic community.

In the future, let us give more thought to our naming conventions, get beyond ideological confrontation and try to build bridges over our cultural chasms. Was it really too much to keep the traditional name of the tallest mountain in North America, Denali? Especially when you think about all the dispossession and suffering Native peoples have endured over the centuries.

We honor our Native American family not just with the name, but through seeking a better understanding. The true strength of America comes from our shared history and a sense of relatedness, not separateness. The land and language of Native peoples is an inseparable part of who they are. Let them speak in their own voice and let us respect their ancient sacred ways

William McQuilkin is a retired U.S. Navy rear admiral and currently resides on his farm in North Central Florida. This opinion piece was originally published by the Orlando Sentinel, which is a media partner of The Invading Sea. Banner photo: Mount Denali/McKinley (Denali National Park and Preserve, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons).

Sign up for The Invading Sea newsletter by visiting here. To support The Invading Sea, click here to make a donation. If you are interested in submitting an opinion piece to The Invading Sea, email Editor Nathan Crabbe at ncrabbe@fau.edu. 

Tags: AlaskaIchetucknee RiverMount DenaliMount McKinleyNative AmericansOcklawaha RiverPituffik Space BaseSuwannee RiverTrump Administration
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The Invading Sea is a nonpartisan source for news, commentary and educational content about climate change and other environmental issues affecting Florida. The site is managed by Florida Atlantic University’s Center for Environmental Studies in the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science.

 

 

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