The Alaska Republican US senator Lisa Murkowski has introduced legislation to officially rename North America’s tallest mountain as Denali, a counter to Donald Trump’s executive order to revert the peak’s name to Mount McKinley.
Murkowski’s bill, which was co-sponsored by her fellow Republican senator for Alaska, Dan Sullivan, would require the peak to be referred to as Denali on any US maps, laws and regulations.
“In Alaska, it’s Denali,” said Murkowski in a statement on the bill. “Once you see it in person, and take in the majesty of its size and breathe in its cold air, you can understand why the Koyukon Athabascans referred to it as The Great One. This isn’t a political issue – Alaskans from every walk of life have long been advocating for this mountain to be recognized by its true name.”
Denali is the Athabascan word meaning “great one” or “high one” that has been used for thousands of years by Indigenous people in Alaska.
The state of Alaska has officially recognized the mountain as Denali since 1975. The Department of the Interior, under the former US president Barack Obama, later changed the peak’s name to Denali from Mount McKinley in 2015, undoing a 1917 proclamation meant to honor 25th US president William McKinley.
But Trump has been persistent that the mountain should be renamed. He signed the “Restoring Names That Honor American Greatness” executive order on the first day of his second term to revert the peak’s name.
“President McKinley championed tariffs to protect US manufacturing, boost domestic production, and drive US industrialization and global reach to new heights,” wrote Trump in the executive order.
“He was tragically assassinated in an attack on our Nation’s values and our success, and he should be honored for his steadfast commitment to American greatness.”
Like McKinley, Trump has increased tariffs on several foreign countries. He also survived an assassination attempt in July 2024.
Trump’s attempts to rename the mountain have sparked backlash with Indigenous Alaskans, especially given McKinley’s racist attitudes towards Indigenous people.
