The highest peak at Great Smoky Mountains National Park is officially reverting to its Cherokee name more than 150 years after a surveyor named it for a Confederate general.

The highest peak at Great Smoky Mountains National Park is officially reverting to its Cherokee name more than 150 years after a surveyor named it for a Confederate general.

The U.S. Board of Geographic Names voted on Wednesday in favor of a request from the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians to officially change the name Clingmans Dome to Kuwohi, according to a news release from the park. The Cherokee name for the mountain translates to “mulberry place.”

  • Kalkaline @leminal.spaceEnglish
    28·
    3 months ago

    Confederate names in general should be taken off US national monuments. Feel free to use them on garbage cans and sewage pipes if we need to “preserve history”.

    • kersploosh@sh.itjust.worksOPEnglish
      19·
      3 months ago

      I would have been happy either embracing a native name or removing the Confederate’s name. That this is an opportunity to do both at once is extra sweet.

  • halcyoncmdr@lemmy.worldEnglish
    10·
    3 months ago

    Good. This should be a priority nationwide to restore the native names that were replaced by anglicized versions as the land was stolen. Ideally the land would be restored as well, but we know that’s not gonna happen. Restoring the name requires minimum effort.

    While we’re at it, let’s remove references to Confederate names, they were traitors to the nation and they lost. Most of us have underwear that has lasted longer than the Confederacy. They don’t deserve to be honored and remembered with monuments and locations named for them.

  • HostilePasta@lemmy.mlEnglish
    9·
    3 months ago

    Similar to Harney Peak being renamed Black Elk Peak. Though Harney wasn’t a Confederate, he did massacre Native American men, women, and children. Tribal/indigenous naming is so much better.

  • MeatPilot@lemmy.worldEnglish
    91·
    3 months ago

    US: We renamed it, isn’t this great!

    Cherokee people: Yeah, so when do we get the land back?

    US: 😂

  • GooberEarEnglish
    3·
    3 months ago

    Neat. It’s been on my wish list to visit this spot. It’s just that if I’m going to spend money in the south eastern part of the USA, this particular state is pretty high on the list of troubling politics, which is saying a lot given the region. So, it makes me hesitant to go there for a visit and spend my money in a state that seems to overwhelmingly abhor my existence.