Highest peak in the US gets a new name

Mt McKinley was named by a gold prospector. Photo / AP

America's highest mountain, a household name and the answer to countless geography quiz questions, is about to get a new name.

US President Barack Obama was to announce today the renaming of Mt McKinley, honouring the 25th president, to Mt Denali, an Athabascan name used by generations of Alaska Natives that means "the great one".

The White House said Obama would rename the continent's tallest peak to improve relations with Native Americans. Denali carries cultural importance to many Alaska Natives.

Julie Kitka, president of the Alaska Federation of Natives, said yesterday that the new policy announcement would have a concrete as well as psychological effect on Alaska Natives.

"It's symbolic," Kitka said, "but the practical thing is now on all the maps and all the descriptions it will have the traditional name. That is wonderful, it is timely and the right thing to do."

William McKinley, an Ohio politician elected in 1896 and assassinated just six months into his second term, never set foot in Alaska. In 1896, a gold prospector exploring the mountains of central Alaska received news that McKinley had been nominated as a candidate for president. "In a show of support, the prospector declared the tallest peak of the Alaska Range as 'Mt McKinley' - and the name stuck," the White House said.

Ever since, there have been efforts to change the name to Denali. Alaskans had been blocked in Congress by Ohio politicians.

Alaskan elected officials have tried several times since 1975 to get the US Board on Geographic Names to consider making Denali official. In 1980, the park surrounding the 6100m peak was renamed Denali. Republican Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski recently included language in a spending bill to restore the mountain's native name. But the Obama Administration says Interior Secretary Sally Jewell has the authority to change the name under a 1947 law that established the naming board if the board does not act within a reasonable time.

"In changing the name from Mt McKinley to Denali, we intend no disrespect to the legacy of President McKinley," Interior Department officials said. "We are simply reflecting the desire of most Alaskans to have an authentically Alaskan name for this iconic Alaskan feature."

- additional reporting: Bloomberg, Telegraph Group Ltd