Denali: Trump, Against History

by carlos matías

“Mount Denali will always be Mount Denali, despite Trump.” The quote was given to the Yahoo! news channel by four-time winner of the thousand-mile Iditarod Trail (1,609 kilometers), Jeff King.

The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race has marked the life of King, owner of a kennel and sled tourism business just eight miles from the entrance to Denali National Park and Preserve. “Alaska Natives will never stop calling Denali Denali, its Alaska Native name.”

Donald Trump has decided to rename Mount Denali, the highest peak in North America, “McKinley,” in honor of William McKinley, the twenty-fifth president of the United States and the last Civil War veteran to hold this office, from 1897 until his assassination in 1901.

And the fact is that Trump feels inspired by McKinley because, even back then, he was responsible for increasing import tariffs and pioneered new advertising techniques that revolutionized political campaigns, just as Trump now handles social networks better than his Democratic opponents.

McKinley supported the independence of Cuba, however, once it became independent from Spain, the United State kept it under military control until 1902. Under his presidency, the war with Spain gave the United States control of Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines.

Mount Denali (6,190 meters) owes its name to the Athabascan languages and means “The Great One.” Alaska Natives have called it Denali  for centuries. In 1896 it was christened “McKinley” when William McKinley was a candidate for president.
Activists in favor of Native American rights began to push for the recovery of the native name, Denali: the one preferred by mountaineers. In 1980, Denali National Park was created and in 2015 President Barack Obama restored Denali’s original name, in honor of the native communities.
​
With the new name change, Trump goes against the history and tradition of the native peoples and unleashes controversy with Ohio, where McKinley was from, and where they claim for the state, the memory of the former president.