Alaska Native leaders call to preserve Denali name for Mount McKinley
(RNS) — In his second inauguration address on Monday (Jan. 20), President Donald Trump repeated his customary campaign speech promises to improve the United States’ credibility around the world, but after one such vow the president surprised some by announcing America’s resurgence would entail new names for some familiar geographical features. “A short time from now we are going to be changing the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America,” Trump said, “and we will restore the name of a great president, William McKinley, to Mount McKinley, where it should be and where it belongs.” A few hours later he signed an executive order doing just that. Alaska Native leaders, as well as state politicians, object that the order undoes years of work with the federal government to establish Denali as the rightful name. “Located on the traditional homelands of the Dene peoples, it reflects a profound spiritual and cultural relationship with the land,” said Emily Edenshaw, president and CEO of the Alaska Native Heritage Center. “Keeping this name honors that connection and recognizes …