Alaska House resolution urges Trump administration to keep the name Denali

The Alaska House of Representatives offered a rebuke Monday to President Donald Trump’s move to rename North America’s highest peak as Mount McKinley.

The House resolution, sponsored by Rep. Maxine Dibert, D-Fairbanks, says the name Denali is “deeply ingrained in the state’s culture and identity” and urges Trump to maintain Denali as the peak’s official name in federal databases.

“Denali is more than a mountain. It’s a cornerstone of Alaska’s history, a tribute to our diverse culture and a testament to the people who have cherished this land for millennia,” Dibert, who is Koyukon Athabascan, said on the House floor. “If the federal government moves to change the name, it is an affront to our state sovereignty. To officially change the name would not only dishonor those who have fought to protect the name Denali … but also dismiss the voices of the Native communities whose roots are intertwined with this land.”

The state of Alaska adopted the name Denali, which comes from a Koyukon Athabascan word with a meaning akin to “high” or “tall,” in 1975, but its name on federal maps remained Mount McKinley until 2015, when the Obama administration officially adopted the Indigenous name.

Trump signed the order renaming Denali as Mount McKinley on his first day in office. The Interior Department announced the implementation of the order on Friday, though a federally maintained database of place names still showed the name Denali on Monday.

House Joint Resolution 4 passed the House 28-10 over the objections of minority Republicans, who argued it should be amended to include a message thanking Trump for an executive order rolling back Biden-era policies restricting development in the state.

“Perhaps that’s the best way to unite us, and unite this resolution, and say, ‘Hey, President Trump, thanks for doing all this. Could you possibly stop the renaming of Denali?’” said Rep. Kevin McCabe, R-Big Lake. “By adopting this amendment, not only do we affirm that we want to keep the name Denali, but we affirm that cultural and economic values can coexist.”

Gov. Mike Dunleavy, a Republican and a Trump ally, declined to share his own thoughts on the president’s decision to rename the peak during a news conference on Wednesday, but said he would seek to discuss with Trump “what the mountain means in terms of its name, Denali, to our Native folks.”

Some argued state lawmakers should strike a more conciliatory tone with the president, similar to the approach of many world leaders and business executives who have sought to bolster their ties with Trump as he begins his second term in office.

“We need to maintain relationships,” Rep. Mike Prax, R-North Pole, said. “Without the amendment, this resolution focuses on just the negative, and if we’re going to talk about the executive orders, we should also talk about the things that we agree with.”

House Majority Leader Chuck Kopp, R-Anchorage, argued that lawmakers should send a clear message.

“It’s a fair proposition that we say we don’t want that message to be diluted or trivialized,” Kopp said.

The coalition majority, which includes 14 Democrats, five independents and two Republicans, voted 21-17 to reject Republicans’ changes.

After the final vote, McCabe moved to allow members to reconsider their votes before the measure heads to the Senate. A final House vote is expected Wednesday.

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