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Why Trump’s First Move as President Insults Millions of Indigenous People
What the Fight Over a Mountain Name Reveals About Trump’s Political Priorities
1 day down, 1,460 days to go.
On his first day back in office, Donald Trump scaled new heights by declaring that the tallest peak in North America should no longer be called by its Indigenous name, Denali, but instead, revert back to Mount McKinley.
You might not think it’s Trump’s most shocking executive order in the past few days, given that he’s pardoned all the January 6 rioters. But this decision — undoing the restoration of Denali’s Indigenous name — speaks volumes about the values and priorities driving his presidency. Apparently, nothing makes America great again like erasing traditional Native culture in favor of honoring a white American former president whose imperialistic policies set the stage for the U.S. to become a global colonial power at the expense of other nations’ sovereignty and lives.
Look it up.
The mountain, revered by the Koyukon Athabascan people for centuries as “The Great One,” was renamed Mount McKinley over a hundred years ago by a prospector who thought it would be nice to honor a presidential candidate he liked. Never mind that William McKinley never set foot…