President Obama is Keepin' It Real in Alaska: The Return of Denali

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President Obama announced today that Mount McKinley was being renamed Denali, using his executive power to restore an Alaska Native name (meaning the Great One) with deep cultural significance to the tallest mountain in North America! The peak, at 20,237 feet, plays a central role in the creation story of the Koyukon Athabascans, a group that has lived in Alaska for thousands of years.

The mountain came to be known as Mount McKinley after a gold prospector who was exploring the Alaska Range heard that McKinley had won the Republican presidential nomination, and declared that the tallest peak should be named in his honor. President McKinley was assassinated in 1901, six months into his second term, and never visited Alaska.

Denali’s name has long been seen as an example of cultural imperialism in which a Native American name with historical roots was replaced by an American one, having little to do with the place.

The White House also announced plans to create a "young engagement program" to help rural and Alaska Native youth in the Arctic. The administration said it would also provide $400,000 for commissions that govern local fishing, along with more than $1 million in funding from the federal government and Alaska groups to fund U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service advisers.

The Real Smokey the Bear

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Hot Foot Teddy and his caretaker Warden Ray Bell.

Last week, the Archive Gals took a trip to the National Zoo, and did a little research about former zoo celebrities; the past Bao-Baos, if you will. The beloved character Smokey Bear was created by the US Forest Service in 1844, to spread information on forest fire prevention. The moniker shifted to "Smokey the Bear" following Eddie Arnold's hit song about the fire safety conscious ursine in 1952.

Ray Bell's daughter Judy with the rescued bear.

In 1950, during a forest fire in the Capitan Mountains, in Lincoln National Forest, AZ, a two and half month old bear cub was found trapped in a tree. He was named Hot Foot Teddy, and his paws were treated for burns. State Fish and Game Warden Ray Bell took the young cub in, and the Bell family raised Teddy until he was given a new home at the National Zoo and re-dubbed Smokey Bear- the physical incarnation of the popular character. Smokey Bear lived out his days as one of the zoo's most popular attractions- with so many letters being written to him that the US Post Office gave him his own zip code. He died in 1976, and the title of Smokey Bear was passed on to his "adopted son" Lil' Smokey, who carried the title into the early nineties. The original Smokey Bear's remains were returned to his birthplace and you can visit his grave today at Smokey Bear Historical Park in the Capitan Mountains. Remember guys- only you can prevent forest fires! (Or wildfires, if you want to be current).