Yellowstone National Park, one of the most beloved national parks in the United States, has undergone a significant change in nomenclature that reflects a growing awareness of the historical injustices faced by Native American communities. Mount Doane, named after an Army officer responsible for a massacre of hundreds of Native Americans in 1870, has now been renamed “First Peoples Mountain.”
This transformation in nomenclature was brought about through a unanimous decision by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names, as announced by the National Park Service. Previously, Mount Doane, towering at 10,551 feet, bore the name of an individual involved in the tragic massacre of the Piegan Blackfeet tribe in northern Montana. The deadly attack took place in 1870 after the Civil War, leaving hundreds of Indigenous people dead.
Throughout his life, Doane boasted about leading this assault on Native Americans and referred to the atrocity as the Marias Massacre.
Native American communities have expressed relief and appreciation for the change, emphasizing the importance of not commemorating individuals associated with genocide. The Great Plains Tribal Chairman’s Association, representing sixteen Sioux tribes, had first called for the mountain’s renaming back in 2018.
William Snell, executive director of the Rocky Mountain Tribal Leaders Council, pointed out, “We’re not against certain names, but we’re not for names where individuals have been involved with genocide, where elders and children have been killed, and there have been some traumatic events in our history that don’t meet standards of honor.”
Four years later, their efforts have borne fruit with this renaming.
Piikani Nation Chief Stan Grier remarked, “This name change is long overdue. 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.”
The history surrounding Doane is marked by the massacre of innocent Native Americans, including women, elders, children, and those afflicted with smallpox. Doane and his men were responsible for the killing of 173 American Indians following the discovery of a deceased white fur trader.
