Mount Doane in Yellowstone National Park has been renamed to honor Native Americans. The new selected name for the Yellowstone mountain is First People’s Mountain.
It was previously named after an Army officer who led a tragic massacre against Native Americans. In this massacre, at least 173 Native Americans were slaughtered, a reality that has led to much distress for those aware of the grief caused by Lt. Gustavus Doane.
Doane was known for boasting about the slaughter eventually known as the Marias Massacre. Officials finally agreed to remove his name from the first national park in the U.S.
One of the largest Yellowstone Mountains is finally renamed in honor of Native Americans
According to the New York Times, the National Park Service revealed that the U.S. Board on Geographic Names voted unanimously to rename the mountain. Yellowstone officials consulted 27 Indigenous tribes on the name change, according to a released statement.
In a statement, Chief Stan Grier of the Piikani Nation said that the change was “long overdue.” The Piikani Nation’s territory covers much of Montana, including the site of the Massacre, as well as the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan.
“We all agreed on ‘First Peoples Mountain’ as an appropriate name to honor the victims of such inhumane acts of genocide, and to also remind people of the 10,000-year-plus connection tribal peoples have to this sacred place now called Yellowstone,” continued Chief Stan Grier.
The Yellowstone mountain renaming is one way that the national park is righting the wrongs of the past. This is to ensure that organizations properly acknowledge those indigenous to the land. In this way, they remain honored, seen and their histories are corrected rather than erased.
This is hopefully one change that will inspire many more. The Park said in a statement that “Yellowstone may consider changes to other derogatory or inappropriate names in the future.”
Related: Two Benin Bronzes Returned To Home In Nigeria More Than 100 Years Later