Iowa lawmakers advanced a bill Monday requiring public schools to replace references to the Gulf of Mexico and Denali with references to the “Gulf of America” and “Mount McKinley” in classroom instruction and handouts provided to students.
The legislation follows President Donald Trump’s executive orders to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America and the Alaskan peak Denali to Mount McKinley.
Trump ordered the name changes as part of the flurry of executive actions signed hours after he took office on Jan. 20. The Trump administration’s Interior Department officially changed the names four days later.
North America’s highest peak had been called Mount McKinley before, in honor of former U.S. President William McKinley, but was renamed Denali — which means “tall” in the Koyukon Indigenous language — at Alaska’s request in 1975.
“These changes reaffirm the Nation’s commitment to preserving the extraordinary heritage of the United States and ensuring the future generations of Americans celebrate the legacy of its heroes and historic assets,” the department said in a Jan. 24 statement.
Under House Study Bill 97, Iowa’s public schools would be required to teach the changed names to students and replace all references in both instructional material and handouts.
Iowa Rep. Mary Madison, D-West Des Moines, said the legislation is unnecessary and will place an additional cost on public schools. Madison also said the change is a political move that disregards the culture of Indigenous people.
“The only person that’s upset or wants to change it is for political reasons, and I don’t think we have to jump every time somebody wants to do something, especially when it costs us money that we won’t put into our public schools,” Madison said. “That bothers me.”
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Iowa Rep. Robert Henderson, R-Sioux City, and Rep. Steven Bradley, R-Cascade, moved to advance the legislation, despite opposition from Madison and hesitation from several lobbyists.
Michelle Johnson, a lobbyist for the Iowa Association of School Boards, said the organization is registered as undecided on the legislation because it is unclear how an executive order would impact what local schools do.
Johnson also said the cost associated with the handouts and new information given to the students would need to be considered, and the organization is unsure of implementation.
Dave Daughton, a lobbyist for School Administrators of Iowa and Rural School Advocates of Iowa, said it is unclear what impact the state law would have over the executive order. Registered as undecided for the bill, Daughton said teachers will likely have to have conversations about the landmarks and their old names with students.
Google Maps announced last week it would rename the body of water after it is updated in the U.S. government system.
U.S. users will see “Gulf of America” in Google Maps, while people in Mexico will see it as the Gulf of Mexico, and those outside the two countries will see both names.