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Mount McKinley--Denali

Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2014 10:39 pm
by LibraryLady
WFAA keeps calling Mt. McKinley Denali...............(After reading this, I wonder why WFAA is entering the fray.)

So, I checked out the name:

Indigenous names for the mountain can be found in seven different Alaskan languages.[21] The names fall into two categories. To the south of the Alaska Range in the Dena'ina and Ahtna languages the mountain is known by names which translate as 'big mountain'. To the north of the Alaska Range in the Lower Tanana, Koyukon, Upper Kuskokwim, Holikachuk, and Deg Xinag languages the mountain is known by names which translate as 'the high one'.

In 1896, a gold prospector named it McKinley as political support for then-presidential candidate William McKinley, who became president the following year. The United States formally recognized the name Mount McKinley after President Wilson signed the Mount McKinley National Park Act of February 26, 1917.[22] The Alaska Board of Geographic Names changed the name of the mountain to Denali, which is how it is referred to locally. However, a 1975 request by the Alaska state legislature to the United States Board on Geographic Names to do the same was blocked by Ohio congressman Ralph Regula, whose district includes McKinley's hometown of Canton.[23] Members of the Ohio congressional delegation continue to protect the McKinley name, blocking attempts by the Alaska congressional delegation to get the Board of Geographic Names to change it to Denali. So while the Alaska state board refers to the mountain as Denali, McKinley remains the name given by the owner of the national park property, the United States government.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denali