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

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.