Denali
Dear Editor: The following letter was sent to Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy.
Dear Gov. Dunleavy: As a student of Sitka High, we were given a project on one of the many government decisions. The class is researching whether the highest peak in North America should be called Denali, (current name) or Mount McKinley. Being a resident of Alaska, this is a big decision that we the residents should have a great deal of say in. As we will be living with the name opposed to people who don’t live in the state.
The name change of the peak should be up to the residents of Alaska not up to the rest of the country. The Natives of the Denali area who have lived there most of their lives call it Denali because it’s a Native name. The name Mount McKinley was made by a gold prospector, William Dickey, in 1897. He used that name in a New York Sun article to spread the name around, however it did not gain traction to officially call the peak Mount McKinley until after President McKinley’s assassination in 1901.
In 1975 the state of Alaska petitioned to the U.S. Board on Geographic Names to change the name of the mountain back to its original and Native name of Denali. Alaskan residents could not catch a break and for forty years the Ohio congressional delegation (OCD) oppressed the Native name and blocked their efforts. OCD basically oppressed the Alaskan heritage. I feel that the name change for the peak should be up to a vote in the state of Alaska. Trump should make a poll for Alaskan residents.
Vance Balovich,
Sitka High School student
