Denali -- the tall one. The proper name has been restored. Department of the Interior Secretary Sally Jewell confirmed on Monday that the paperwork is signed and it's official, Mt. McKinley is no more.
Ohio Republican Congressman Mike Turner was quoted in the Washington Post saying, "I'm sitting on Main Street in Dayton, Ohio. I can tell you, the residents of this city are furious." Ohio Republican and Speaker of the House John Boehner said he was "deeply disappointed" in the decision.
According to the Dayton Daily News, John Kasich, Ohio governor and current candidate for the Republican presidential nomination said, "You just don't go and do something like that. In Ohio, we felt it was appropriate. A guy saw that mountain when he was one of the first up there ... named it after the president. No reason to change it."
Another candidate for the GOP nomination, Donald Trump, said via Twitter, "President Obama wants to change the name of Mt. McKinley to Denali after more than 100 years. Great insult to Ohio. I will change back!"
Alaska's Republicans had much different reactions, of course. Sen. Dan Sullivan said in a message on his official Facebook account, "The Athabascan people named this great mountain thousands of years ago. They called it Denali, the 'Great One.' Denali belongs to Alaska and its residents."
Sen. Lisa Murkowski said on her Facebook page, "For centuries, Alaskans have known this majestic mountain as the 'Great One.' Today we are honored to be able to officially recognize the mountain as Denali. I'd like to thank the President for working with us to achieve this significant change to show honor, respect, and gratitude to the Athabascan people of Alaska."
The "Denali-McKinley" dispute has been ongoing since before 1975, when the Alaska Legislature officially asked the federal government to restore the name Denali to the mountain. Due to objections from the Ohio delegation, the request was never acted upon. This allowed Secretary Jewell to invoke a federal law from 1947 that allows the Department of the Interior to name geographic names if the Board of Geographic Names fails to act in a "reasonable amount of time."
A fictional account of how this type of delay on action because of pressure from a state's congressional delegation played out on the show "The West Wing." At the beginning of the episode, a low-level staffer asks two senior staffers, Josh and Sam, why we haven't eliminated the penny. At first they shrugged it off as far below their level, which it was, but as professional debaters, all they could come up with were reasons to eliminate it.
At the end of the episode Sam wants to propose a bill to eliminate the penny. His boss, Toby, explains to him that they can't do that. When Sam asks why, Toby in turn asks him, "Where is the speaker of the House from?" Sam answers, "He's from Illinois, which, by the way, is the only state where you can put pennies in a toll machine. Why is that, do you suppose?"
Toby begins to answer and Sam stops him. "It's 'cause Lincoln's from Illinois! And ... so is the speaker." Sam continues, "Well, that's a good reason. Well, it's a dumb reason, but it's good enough, right?"
Sam was right -- it's a dumb reason. It's also a dumb reason to continue calling the most recognizable peak in Alaska Mt. McKinley rather than its Koyukon Athabascan name -- Denali.
This really comes down to a state sovereignty issue. Republicans, such as Kasich, Turner and Boehner should be supportive of Alaska's self-determination on this issue. However, when it comes to issues closer to home, sometimes principles seem to take a back seat to immediacy.
So even though I haven't been impressed with much President Barack Obama's administration has done over the years, credit deserves to be given where credit is due.
This is one of those issues that can unite Alaskans regardless of political ideology. We can rally around Denali. Even those who have differences with the current president can be happy about restoring Denali to its proper name. It's a step in the right direction for Alaska sovereignty and particularly for Alaska's first peoples.
Mike Dingman is a fifth-generation Alaskan born and raised in Anchorage. He is a former UAA student body president and has worked, studied and volunteered in Alaska politics since the late '90s. Email, michaeldingman@gmail.com.
The views expressed here are the writer's own and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, email commentary(at)alaskadispatch.com