U.S. Will Rename 660 Geographic Features- including several Adirondack landmarks

[montcalm]

Nothing is static. People make mistakes. Generations change. And thus so do words.

As far as the "s-word" - I think it comes to this: if enough Native American US citizens think it's offensive, change it. If they don't think so, then don't.

I don't know the actions that led to the creation of that list, but I'd have to assume that some of these groups had some say in the lobbying for this. If no one said anything, it probably would have been ignored as it was for many years. We don't know reasons, but sometimes, as we can see by the pushback that the political climate needs to be right for these things to occur. This could be something that has been an issue fought over for years...

[JohnnyMac]

Good grief!
Adirondack, or Ha De Ron Dah (bark eater or tree eater) was a derogatory term.
What is next, Indian Lake like in Cleveland?
What about Indian Head?
Whiteface?
How about Queer Lake?
Gay Pond?
Negro Lake?
While we are at it Bald Mountain is probably offensive to some people also.

I hope they keep their hands off Nippletop.

[mike7575]

Do people from Vermont get a vote?

[Blackjackdavey]

It?s a flat out racial slur, how can anyone support that?

Well, obviously, because changing the name may cost someone their life, as Mr. Conner astutely pointed out. We should be more sensitive to our fellow man's well being by preserving these names. Obviously.

[billconner]

Reading an article on Mt Marcy, named for governor Marcy, who according to Wikipedia "To the abolitionists who questioned the candidates for governor, Marcy was considered a "doughface," a man with Southern sympathies."

I like the Mohawk name for it: Cloud-splitter.

[DuctTape]

Well, obviously, because changing the name may cost someone their life, as Mr. Conner astutely pointed out. We should be more sensitive to our fellow man's well being by preserving these names. Obviously.

That is a red herring. Names of lakes, ponds, mountains, hills change. There are even errors from one map to another. For example, on usgs maps where the name of a hill switched to a different hill nearby in the west canada lakes wilderness from one map year to another. The change of a geograhical name will not put anyone's life at risk. Cry away.

[Zach]

I think Doughface would be an interesting name for a mountain, though possibly a little obscure to the casual visitor.

[St.Regis]

I like "Cloud Splitter" too!

[billconner]

I suspect half or more of all mountain - lake - river names could be linked to some politically incorrect or offensive origin. And some renamed ones will in 50 years be determined offensive.

[Tug Hill]

As for Marcy, I think the Native American name Tahawus is better than the white mans translation.

[montcalm]

Tahawus, although it sounds cool, seems to be another questionable Americanization of native language.

https://www.adirondackexplorer.org/book_reviews/adirondack-roots-stories-of-hiking-history-and-women

I'm not that keen on linguistics and etymology to dig much deeper than this, so I'll take the expert's opinion.

[greatexpectations]

Tahawus, although it sounds cool, seems to be another questionable Americanization of native language.

yeah, i think peaks and people by carson gets into this a bit. as i recall the summary was:
1. tahawus was a native american word meaning cloud splitter but it was lifted by hoffman from finger lakes area people (rather than adirondack locals) and then applied to an adirondack peak.
2. hoffman tried to popularize tahawus *after* emmons had already applied the name marcy.

fwiw, cloudsplitter and tahawus are both great names.

[Bagadeez04]

I think both "sides" have good points here. Truly derogatory names should change without a doubt. I wasn't aware that this word was derogatory (my own ignorance), but if it is it should be changed. If Negro Lake references back to even more derogatory word before it should change. That seems perfectly fair.

I could also see this devolving into a situation where bored first world "activists" start finding thousands of innocuous places/features to rename more or less to make a name for themselves.

I think these issues should be considered carefully on a case by case basis and decision makers need to be able to accept legitimate changes and also say "no" to any silly name change recommendations that may come.

[billconner]

I found a Squaw Island (Black River, just before Lake Ontario). Name not on Google maps. Saw it on county tax map. There must be thousands of place names that will offend someone.

[TCD]

/politics/

Just for fun, let's change it to DeSantis Island and see what happens...

LOL

/politics/