James Brook
Alaska Beacon
One week after President Donald Trump signed an executive order renaming North America’s tallest mountain, the Alaska House of Representatives formally asked him to reverse himself.
With a bipartisan 28-10 vote on Jan. 27, the House approved House Joint Resolution 4, which requests that Trump and the federal government continue labeling the mountain as Denali.
Trump’s order, slated to take effect within 30 days, would label the mountain as “Mount McKinley,” its official name between 1896 and 2015.
The Alaska resolution, after a reconsideration vote that will take place as soon as Jan. 29, is expected to advance to the Senate, where lawmakers say they are likely to approve it.
Once approved, the resolution will go to Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance, the state’s congressional delegation and the acting secretary of the Interior.
Whether Trump will change his mind is anyone’s guess; the Alaska resolution isn’t binding.
On Jan. 27, the resolution’s sponsor, Rep. Maxine Dibert, D-Fairbanks, said the issue is an important one.
“It’s not just a name, it’s a symbol of history, a symbol of culture, and a symbol of respect,” she said.
“To me, this issue is not a political one. It is simply about honoring our Native culture and heritage in Alaska, as well as our right to determine as Alaskans what is best for us,” said Rep. Louise Stutes, R-Kodiak. “Some may see this (renaming) as federal overreach, and it is something we have always resisted.”
HOW THEY VOTED
In favor
- Robyn Niayuq Burke, D-Utqiagvik
- Jeremy Bynum, R-Ketchikan
- Ashley Carrick, D-Fairbanks
- Mia Costello, R-Anchorage
- Maxine Dibert, D-Fairbanks
- Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham
- Ted Eischeid, D-Anchorage
- Zack Fields, D-Anchorage
- Neal Foster, D-Nome
- Alyse Galvin, I-Anchorage
- Andrew Gray, D-Anchorage
- Carolyn Hall, D-Anchorage
- Sara Hannan, D-Juneau
- Rebecca Himschoot, I-Sitka
- Ky Holland, I-Anchorage
- Nellie Unangiq Jimmie, D-Bethel
- DeLena Johnson, R-Palmer
- Andy Josephson, D-Anchorage
- Chuck Kopp, R-Anchorage
- Donna Mears, D-Anchorage
- Genevieve Mina, D-Anchorage
- David Nelson, R-Anchorage
- George Rauscher, R-Sutton
- Justin Ruffridge, R-Soldotna
- Calvin Schrage, I-Anchorage
- Rebecca Schwanke, R-Glennallen
- Andi Story, D-Juneau
- Louise Stutes, R-Kodiak
Against
- Jamie Allard, R-Eagle River
- Julie Coulombe, R-Anchorage
- Kevin McCabe, R-Big Lake
- Elexie Moore, R-Wasilla
- Mike Prax, R-North Pole
- Dan Saddler, R-Eagle River
- Cathy Tilton, R-Wasilla
- Frank Tomaszewski, R-Fairbanks
- Jubilee Underwood, R-Wasilla
- Sarah Vance, R-Homer
Excused absent
- Bill Elam, R-Nikiski
- Will Stapp, R-Fairbanks
“Denali” is derived from the language of Interior Alaska’s Koyukon Indigenous residents and translates as “the high one.”
Though it wasn’t the mountain’s official name in the 20th century, Denali remained in common use. In 2015, the Obama administration changed the official name as part of a broader push to use Indigenous names for geographic landmarks.
That change ended a concerted 40-year push that began in 1975 when the Alaska Legislature passed a resolution urging the federal government to use Denali instead of McKinley, a name proposed by a 19th century prospector who supported McKinley’s position on the gold standard.
That resolution, adopted by a 24-9 vote of the state House, said in part that the name would be “a fitting and proper gesture to a large segment of the Alaskan population and would be originally Alaskan.”
The state’s drive was blocked for decades by members of Congress from Ohio, McKinley’s home state, even as Alaska’s congressional delegation and local politicians championed the Denali name.
On Jan. 27, opposition to the resolution came from some Republicans, who said they viewed it as potentially divisive.
Rep. Kevin McCabe, R-Big Lake and the legislator who represents the district that contains Denali, cast one of the 10 votes against the resolution.
“At the end of the day, Alaskans are going to call it whatever they want. They’re going to call it McKinley — some still do — they’re going to call it Denali. Some call it ‘the great one.’ They’re going to call it the big mountain at the end of the Parks Highway. It doesn’t really matter,” he said.
McCabe and other House Republicans suggested the resolution should be amended to include praise for Trump’s executive orders dealing with energy development.
Lawmakers voted down an amendment from Rep. George Rauscher, R-Sutton, that would have expanded the resolution along those lines, but not before extensive discussion.
Trump has a history of retaliation against people he sees as political opponents, and some lawmakers expressed concern about the notion that the Legislature’s first message to the incoming administration is one in opposition.
“We need to maintain relationships with everybody — ourselves, the federal government, the president, etc.,” said Rep. Mike Prax, R-North Pole.
