Image: Bill Roth
[ed. Some anyway. Other's not so much. Here's one real profile in courage:]
Alaska’s two Republican U.S. senators — Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan — have already indicated they support keeping the name Denali.
Alaska’s lone U.S. House member Rep. Nick Begich, who has closely aligned himself with Trump, released a statement Monday in which he said the opposition from some House Republicans to the resolution indicated Alaskans were divided on the name.
“Recent polling has shown that Alaskans are split on this issue, and by today’s vote in Juneau, even members of the Alaska State Legislature are split on the issue,” Begich said. “While I understand the passion of this issue, my focus has been and will remain fixed on creating jobs and opportunity for future generations of Alaskans who, no doubt, will continue this debate long into the future.”
[ed. The sheer dumbness of all this (given other real-world problems) is headache inducing. But, as with all trolls, the best response is to just ignore them. So this is probably good advice:]
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“I don’t know a single person that likes the idea, and we’re pretty vocal about it,” King said. “Denali respects the Indigenous people that have been here and around Denali for tens of thousands of years.”
The mountain was named after McKinley when a prospector walked out of the Alaska wilderness in 1896, and the first news he heard was that the Republican had been nominated for president. (...)
McKinley served as president from 1897 until he was assassinated in 1901. He was an imperial colonialist who oversaw the expansion of the American empire with the occupation of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Philippines and Hawaii, pushed by business interests and Christian missionaries wanting to convert Indigenous peoples, Haycox said.
“Trump’s push to rescind the name Denali for the colonialist and white elitist McKinley is insulting to all Alaskans, especially to Alaska’s Native people, and should be soundly rejected,” Haycox said. (...)
The mountain was named after McKinley when a prospector walked out of the Alaska wilderness in 1896, and the first news he heard was that the Republican had been nominated for president. (...)
McKinley served as president from 1897 until he was assassinated in 1901. He was an imperial colonialist who oversaw the expansion of the American empire with the occupation of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Philippines and Hawaii, pushed by business interests and Christian missionaries wanting to convert Indigenous peoples, Haycox said.
“Trump’s push to rescind the name Denali for the colonialist and white elitist McKinley is insulting to all Alaskans, especially to Alaska’s Native people, and should be soundly rejected,” Haycox said. (...)
Joe McAneney of Talkeetna worked as a summer raft-guide for two years before moving to Alaska full time in 2012. He’s now a pilot for an air taxi company, ferrying climbers and tourists to the mountain in a small airplane outfitted with skis to land at base camp, located on Kahiltna Glacier at 7,200 feet (2,194.6 meters) above sea level.
He knows once tourist season comes around, he will have to answer their questions of what he thinks about Trump changing the name. He knows what his answer will be.
“It’s always been Denali, and it always will be,” he said.
The executive order can instigate the name change, but compliance is another issue.
“The only people that are going to adhere to that are probably the people that would have been still calling it McKinley anyway,” McAneney said
He knows once tourist season comes around, he will have to answer their questions of what he thinks about Trump changing the name. He knows what his answer will be.
“It’s always been Denali, and it always will be,” he said.
The executive order can instigate the name change, but compliance is another issue.
“The only people that are going to adhere to that are probably the people that would have been still calling it McKinley anyway,” McAneney said
