Newly inaugurated US President Donald Trump has stirred controversy by reversing an order that recognised the indigenous name of North America's tallest mountain.
President Barack Obama changed the name of Mount McKinley to Denali in 2015 - making official the moniker native Alaskans say had been in use for more than 10,000 years. Campaigners had been fighting for the change since 1975.
But one of Trump's first moves in office has been to reinstate the name McKinley - so-called for the 25th US President, William McKinley, which was first given to the site in 1896. Trump also issued an order renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.
The 20,310ft / 6,190m Alaskan peak is the highest of all North America’s mountains. It has been renamed Mount McKinley - for the second time - after the 25th US President, despite being known as Denali to native Alaskans thousands of years before McKinley was born.
“The mountain was named 10,000 years ago by the native people, the Athabascans in the area, and it is called Denali, which means 'the great one',” Alaskan Senator Lisa Murkowski told CBS.
The traditional homeland of the Koyukon Athabascan people, Denali, which receives more than 60,000 visitors each year, is situated in the Denali National Park in south-central Alaska, a sprawling 7,408 square mile / 19,187 km2 preserve of American wilderness.
Having previously suggested a name change some weeks ago, President Trump confirmed the decision in his inaugural address and signed an order to that effect just hours later.
“We will be restoring the name of a great President, William McKinley, to Mount McKinley, where it should be and where it belongs," he said.
McKinley was US President from 1897 until his assassination in 1901, but never visited his name-sake or even the state of Alaska, nor did he have any cultural connection to the area.
The change has been met with widespread criticism from the Alaskan community.
“I strongly disagree with the President’s decision on Denali,” said Senator Murkowski in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
“Our nation’s tallest mountain, which has been called Denali for thousands of years, must continue to be known by the rightful name bestowed by Alaska’s Koyukon Athabascans, who have stewarded the land since time immemorial.”
The mountain will now be officially known as McKinley in the US. However, other countries aren’t obliged to recognize the new name.
Alongside native Alaskans, Denali is also pivotal to the climbing community. On average, about 1,000 eager climbers attempt to summit the mountain each year, traversing unforgiving Alaskan terrain and several sheer drops.
More than 50 people have died attempting the climb since 2010, falling victim to perilous conditions on the mountain.
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