Goodbye Mount McKinley. Hello Mount Denali

[briantroutman]

I'll tell you this, though: everyone in the northeast knows it as Mount McKinley and is likely to continue calling it such for quite some time.

Baloney.  People were taught about the Denali/Mount McKinley naming mess when I was in high school in the Northeast.

My high-quality primary/secondary education in the Northeast in the '90s and early '00s referred to it as Mt. McKinley exclusively.

[Pete from Boston]

I'll tell you this, though: everyone in the northeast knows it as Mount McKinley and is likely to continue calling it such for quite some time.

Baloney.  People were taught about the Denali/Mount McKinley naming mess when I was in high school in the Northeast.

My high-quality primary/secondary education in the Northeast in the '90s and early '00s referred to it as Mt. McKinley exclusively.

I would say that since the 1990s "Denali" has been very common.  Any television shows, travel books, or magazine articles I've seen about it since that time primarily use "Denali" to the point that I didn't know it wasn't already renamed.

Hell, GM has been using the name on a truck since at least 2002.  This is not a mystery.

[jwolfer]

Reminds me if Cape Canaveral being Cape Kennedy, never really caught on.

[vtk]

http://www.usgs.gov/blogs/features/usgs_top_story/old-name-restored-to-nations-highest-peak/

Salient points: Naming features is the domain of Board of Geographic Names and Secretary of the Interior. The former has been blocked from acting by Congress, until the latter intervened. This is not happening on the President's initiative, but with his blessing.

[roadman65]

I am not calling it anything but Mount McKinnley just like the Chicago people still call the Willis Tower the Sears Tower.  Call it what you want, a rose by another name is still a rose as the old cliche goes.  Let Obama do his thing, he can call it like he wants just like some people call him a POS instead of President Obama.  That still does not change who he is.  Just like some name of a mountain peak is still going to be the same.

BTW each language anyway calls the mountains what they say just like we call Warsaw in Poland Warsaw even though in Polski its Warsawza pronounced Va- Sha- Va in Poland.  Do the Poles get mad we do not call the city the name that we give it?  Do the Italians get mad when we call Roma the name Rome?  What about the day of the week called Sunday?  People in Mexico call it Domingo does anyone get into a war over what name to call the first day of the week?

Of course when a controversial figure is involved in the naming of something it becomes so major of a topic.   No moral law is broken whether its Denali or Mount McKinnley or even Mount Wright after the Obama's former pastor!

[RoadWarrior56]

It will always be Mt. McKinley to me.

[Rothman]

It's not my fault those that were only taught that it was Mount McKinley went to substandard high schools.

Duke said "everyone" in the Northeast only knows it as Mount McKinley.  That's just not true.

[US71]

Reminds me if Cape Canaveral being Cape Kennedy, never really caught on.

Istanbul was Constantinople.

[Pete from Boston]

It will always be Большая Гора to me.

The funny thing is, outside Ohio, does anyone have any strong feelings about William McKinley?  Is every president, and every assassinated politician a hero?

"Mount McKinley" feels like a political version of naming rights, with as much public acceptance. 

This is pretty consistent with worldwide trends of the reversal of colonial or political names imposed over ancient ones.  I think people nevertheless hold onto sentimentality for what's familiar to them because that's a natural part of finding a sense of order in the world.

[roadman65]

Its not only assissinated Presidents that are heroes.  Bill Clinton received a blow job from Monica Lewinski and every post hippie liberal considered him to be a hero just for that particular act  Then some consider Obama to be a hero for the things hes either done or not have done.

All I know is that a lot of people have been used to a name for over a century and now someone on a whim decides to change it.  Even if Bush, especially him I should say, decided to change a name of a landmark that was changed years ago, you would also hear an argument as well.  Maybe from the other side of the aisle, but nonetheless another argument.

That is why I hate politics so much period.  Too much us and them and not enough togetherness.

[corco]

Bill Clinton received a blow job from Monica Lewinski and every post hippie liberal considered him to be a hero just for that particular act

Name five people who consider him to be a hero just for that particular act.

[jeffandnicole]

Someone could discover something, give it a name, and people will complain about it.  Or find an alternate meaning.  Or claim that the name is derogatory if you swap out some letters for others, add or subtract some other letters, then scramble them.  People complain, and find reasons to complain, then rile everyone else up about it.  It's what they do.

Considering this change has been in the works for a good portion of 2 decades, it wasn't exactly changed on a whim.  And the people complaining about it are probably similar to my views...they haven't even given the mountain itself any thought in years, but now feel that the name absolutely can't be changed for (name your excuse here).

[US71]

Old Dixie Highway is being renamed Barack Obama Highway. I'm sure someone will get their knickers in a knot over that. 

[Pete from Boston]

All I know is that a lot of people have been used to a name for over a century and now someone on a whim decides to change it. 

If you were paying attention to the last day, forty years, or century of discussion, you'd realize it is not "on a whim."

All your arguments apply better to the renaming from Denali to Mount McKinley better than they do the other way around.

That is why I hate politics so much period.  Too much us and them and not enough togetherness.

Togetherness requires seeing the bigger picture, not just what one is used to.

[SteveG1988]

[Henry]

Considering that GMC has a Denali trim line for about all of its models, it'll only be a matter of time before we see a new commercial filmed on the actual Mt. Denali, or at least in front of it. It sounds far more majestic and grander than Mt. McKinley, IMHO.

[Jim]

I'm generally opposed to renaming things for PC reasons, but despite whatever the political reasons it's being done and done right now, I like the change here.  When in Alaska 14 years ago, I am not sure I heard it called "Mt. McKinley" at all.  That's the name I remembered and used it at least some of the time when I captioned my pictures, but I've found myself calling it "Denali" ever since.

I'd kind of prefer if naming of major things (mountains, airports, even bridges or schools) after someone aren't done until some significant time after their death, to make sure the person's accomplishments stand the test of time.  I can't say I know a lot about President McKinley and his accomplishments, or if they had significant impact on Alaska.  But I have to wonder if for some reason Denali never had been Mount McKinley and the push now was to name it in honor of some person, if there would be any support at all for naming it after him.

You know, the relatively recent renamings of NYC bridges and tunnels from their well-known names bothers me a lot more than this one ever will.

[hbelkins]

I guess you-know-who needed to test his pen and phone to make sure they hadn't run out of ink or the battery hadn't run down, respectively. 

[kkt]

I guess you-know-who needed to test his pen and phone to make sure they hadn't run out of ink or the battery hadn't run down, respectively. 

Voldemort?  What?

[ET21]

To some people it is a new name.   All of my life its been McKinley and to some of the millenials it is even more so.  Not many people are that informed these days, and even I did not know its original name until recently. 

Being its been called Mount McKinley for years you get just used to it.

Denali sounds better than McKinley though IMO 

[SSOWorld]

http://www.usgs.gov/blogs/features/usgs_top_story/old-name-restored-to-nations-highest-peak/?from=title

USGS's take on it.

https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/secretary-jewell-announces-nation%E2%80%99s-highest-peak-will-now-bear-native

USDI press release regarding

I've learned decades ago that there is something that helps us turn off the tunnel vision that schools place upon us.  That's call critical thinking.  Think outside the box.  Because someone says so doesn't mean it's so.  To think that everyone says "niegh" is a bunch of bs.  You may, but I don't call it Mt. McKinley.

I've seen someone say every mountain's name in the English language has the word "mount" as part of it.  Far from the truth.  Tagging mount onto Pike's Peak sounds a bit overboard. 

[Bruce]

For what it's worth, my school and people around me here in Seattle have always called it Denali. It's also advertised as such (though mostly in reference to the national park) by Alaskan cruises that leave Seattle and Bellingham.

[Brandon]

Reminds me if Cape Canaveral being Cape Kennedy, never really caught on.

Istanbul was Constantinople.

Even old New York was once New Amsterdam
Why they changed it I can't say
People just liked it better that way

[roadman65]

Even Old Bridge, NJ was Madison at one time.
The Florida's Turnpike was once the Sunshine State Parkway.

Things change, but not the substance.  We can call a place, object, or thing whatever we want regardless of its proper name.

IMO opinion that mountain can have two names or even three for that matter.  How about the Denali McKinnley Peak?

[jakeroot]

For what it's worth, my school and people around me here in Seattle have always called it Denali. It's also advertised as such (though mostly in reference to the national park) by Alaskan cruises that leave Seattle and Bellingham.

Seconded. Denali is the predominant term here in the NW. In fact, for a long time whenever someone mentioned "Mt McKinley", I had to go look it up because I couldn't remember where it was. I just wasn't taught "McKinley".