The Fall and Rise of Denali: The History behind the Mountain’s Name

In late August of 2015, President Barack Obama and Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell took most of the world by surprise when they announced that the name “Denali” was being restored to the highest mountain in North America. The official name change created a stir in the national and world media, and many wanted to know more about the origins of the name and the history behind “Mount McKinley.”

In the days and weeks following the name change, numerous articles were published and most rehashed similar information about some of the original Athabaskan words, the Russian names, and a famous account of a gold prospector naming the mountain in an 1897 New York Sun article.

The chronology of most of these articles skipped forward—nearly lockstep—to the 1970s and the sudden reemergence of the official Denali name in Alaska government. The respective publications then briefly explained the Ohio (the namesake McKinley’s home state) congressional delegation’s efforts to block new attempts at making a change, and the modification of the national park’s name from Mount McKinley to Denali.

After perusing more than a dozen periodicals in the aftermath of the 2015 name change, more questions were raised about the mountain’s name than answered: How many different Native names for the mountain existed? Why did “Denali” become the Athabaskan term of choice when several other Native groups had different words? Why did the gold prospector’s name become official? Why did the State of Alaska suddenly change its mind in the 1970s?

The poster presentation will demonstrate with visuals and text, the history of Denali’s name and the reasons why “Mount McKinley” gained momentum despite some resistance from prominent Alaskan leaders and despite the mountain already possessing several vernacular labels.  The second component of the presentation will look at the reemergence of the name “Denali” in the 1970s due to a specific political and cultural context that forced politicians to reckon with the history of the name.