Denali name change nothing to go on about

The renaming of a mountain in Alaska is hardly a moment for heated debate.

After all, the people in Alaska already call Mount McKinley by its original Athabascan name, Denali. That President Barack Obama announced this week he is restoring the original name is a tribute to the Native peoples of Alaska and to a history that predates a president of the United States.

Interior Secretary Sally Jewell used her authority to authorize the name change; Congress needs to make the change official, or the next secretary can change it back.

The announcement came on the eve of Obama’s visit to Alaska, where he hopes to bring a sense of urgency to the impact of climate change. He was attending an international conference on the Arctic, where melting glaciers make the threat of climate change an everyday occurrence.

“Climate change is no longer some far-off problem; it is happening here, it is happening now,” Obama said in his remarks. “We’re not acting fast enough.”

With such weighty issues, it was a name-change announcement that caused the Right Wing Outrage machine to begin spouting nonsense.

Presidential hopeful Donald Trump said this via Twitter: “President Obama wants to change the name of Mount McKinley to Denali after more than 100 years. Great insult to Ohio. I will change back!” President William McKinley was from Ohio and never even visited Alaska.

A more rational reaction came from Alaskan Sen. Lisa Murkowski: “Today we are honored to recognize America’s highest peak officially as Denali, or ’The Great One.’ ” (Other linguists say the translation is more along the lines of “The High One.”) Murkowski also is a Republican, proving that not all GOP reactions follow the outrage model.

Most people in Alaska don’t mind the change, either. In fact, Alaskans told ABC News that they could always tell someone from outside Alaska — they called the mountain McKinley, not Denali. If they don’t mind, neither should the rest of the country.

The state of Alaska officially changed Denali’s name in 1975.

If folks in Ohio are truly upset, they can find a mountain of their own to name. Campbell Hill, at 1,550 feet, is Ohio’s highest point. Charles D. Campbell once owned the land. Campbell Hill’s size hardly compares to Denali’s majestic 20,237 feet, so we can understand why Ohio would like to keep the naming rights to North America’s highest spot.

Too bad. Restoring the mountain’s name was the right thing for Obama to do. Of course, Taos’ favorite mountain guide, Dave Hahn — who has summited Denali 21 times — had this suggestion on his Facebook page: “Can’t we just call it really big, mean, cold and beautiful?”

That might be too long a name to fit on maps. Denali, on the other hand, is just right.

— The Santa Fe New Mexican