The stones used to build the fire lookout tower atop Harney Peak were hauled up by mule when it was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps from 1935-1938.
Harney Peak, the highest point in the Black Hills and in all of South Dakota, is named for Gen. William S. Harney, who was known for killing Sioux women and children in 1855 during the Battle of Ash Hollow in Nebraska.
The fact that the mountain in the sacred Black Hills is named for such a person has offended many Native Americans, who have campaigned to have the mountain -- which is a popular hiking site -- renamed.
This week they got their wish as the state's Board of Geographic Names voted unanimously to recommend that Harney Peak be renamed Hinhan Kaga, which is believed to translate from Lakota as Making of Owls.
It is actually kind of amazing that this was a unanimous decision. For such a mundane-sounding agency, the Board of Geographic Names has had its share of controversy in South Dakota as it has tried unsuccessfully to rename places with "Negro" and "squaw" in their names.
The name change is not quite final. There is a public notice that must be filed and then a 30-day period for comments.
After the 30-day comment period, the board could take another vote at its June 29 meeting. The state board’s recommendation would then go to the U.S. Board on Geographic Names for a final decision.
The state board, which met in the Becker-Hansen Building Commission Room, needed only 30 minutes to make its recommendation. The relatively quick decision followed the receipt of hundreds of written comments in recent weeks and five public hearings across the state since April 28 at which dozens of people testified.
The change, however, has already been criticized. Read the comments in the first linked article and you'll find plenty of people who think this is all PC nonsense to appease Native Americans and that things should be left the way they are. Basically the same stuff you hear when folks suggest the Washington Redskins need to change their offensive name.
Nadenicek noted that some public commenters said a name change would amount to rewriting history.
“I think by going back to the original name that Native people used for the place, doesn’t that neutralize that comment to some extent?” Nadenicek said. “We’re not rewriting history. We’re actually endorsing history with a name change of this tenor.”
Exactly. What this does, in a way, is un-rewrite history.
And it's about time.