Massacre leader’s name scrubbed from Yellowstone mountain

Native Montanans agreed on new name of First Peoples Mountain to ‘honour victims of such inhumane acts of genocide’

First Peoples Mountain, centre, rises between Top Notch Peak, foreground, and Mt. Stevenson, back right, seen from Avalanche Peak. (Jacob W. Frank / National Park Service)

A Yellowstone National Park mountain named after a US Army officer who helped lead a massacre of Native Americans will now be called First Peoples Mountain.

The US Board on Geographic Names voted unanimously to rename Mount Doane, a 10,551-foot (3215m) peak in southeastern Yellowstone.

It was named for Lt. Gustavus Doane, who in 1870 helped lead an attack on a band of Piegan Blackfeet in response to the alleged slaying of a white fur trader that killed at least 173 Native Americans, including many women, elders and children suffering from smallpox, in what become known as the Marias Massacre, Yellowstone officials said in a statement.

“Doane wrote fondly about this attack and bragged about it for the rest of his life,” the National Park Service said.

Besides being a leader of the massacre, Lt Doane was a key member of a Yellowstone expedition the same year. Yellowstone became the world’s first national park in 1872.

Yellowstone officials consulted with 27 tribes on the name change, according to the statement.

It is considering changes to other place names deemed derogatory or inappropriate, the Park Service said.

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland (The Salt Lake Tribune)

“This name change is long overdue,” Piikani Nation Chief Stan Grier said in a statement Wednesday.

“We all agreed on First Peoples’ Mountain as an appropriate name to honour 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,” Mr Grier added.

The Piikani Nation’s traditional territory covers much of Montana, including the site of the Marias Massacre, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland announced last year she had set up a federal panel to remove racist terms from geographic locations and federal use.

She declared the word “squaw” a derogatory term and said she was taking steps to remove it from federal government use.

The Associated Press contributed to this report