I’m surprised he didn’t name it Mt. Obama. It would make sense, since there’s no other place in America that high.
Before his trip to Alaska, the President used his pen to create jobs this week, by forcing schools all over America to buy new geography books:
In a major show of solidarity, Obama announced on the eve of his trip that his administration is changing the name of North America’s tallest peak, Mount McKinley, to Denali, its traditional Athabascan name. (full story)
I’m not really sure what he thinks he’s actually accomplishing. In 2009, the landmark Sears Tower was renamed the Willis Tower, but nobody in Chicago recognizes it. In fact, Indigenous Chicagoans will sneer at anyone who tries to call it anything but “Sears”. (They also refuse to call the State Street Marshall Fields store “Macy’s, ten years after they bought it.)
So yeah, the President can use this opportunity to show solidarity with Indigenous Peoples, by crossing out the name of an old white Republican in his World Atlas, but I assure you, no matter what name he gives the mountain, it will still be pronounced “McKinley”.