Indigenous leaders protest Trump's Lake Ontario name change
President Donald Trump's executive order designating Lake America the new name for Lake Ontario, originally an Iroquoian word, has sparked protests from indigenous leaders in the United States and Canada.
Trump on Aug. 27 directed officials to make the change amid an ongoing trade war with Canada that recently saw tariff negotiations break down. The move drew instant backlash from Canadians and Americans, while a smattering of conservatives praised what they saw as an America-first move.
Lake Ontario, which shares shoreline with the Canadian province of Ontario and parts of New York, has a name older than the founding of both countries. Critics pointed out that the lake is not named for the Canadian province, but comes from a word with roots in the Iroquoian languages referring to the body of water itself.
The leaders said the decision disrespects indigenous languages and culture.
"I take offense at any effort to change the name of Lake Ontario," Chief of the Wyandotte Nation Billy Friend said in a statement posted to social media. "Names preserve our history, language and heritage. Lake Ontario is part of our Indigenous history. It should be respected and preserved."
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The Wyandotte of Oklahoma comprise descendants from the Huron-Wendat people that were displaced from the Great Lakes region, according to the tribe's website. Ontario comes from a Wendat word, according to Friend and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in a post rejecting the U.S. name change. Wendat is a language in the Iroquoian family, which includes the Haudenosaunee (the preferred name instead of Iroquois or Iroquois Confederacy).
The word Ontari’io means some variation of "the lake is beautiful," they both said.
President J. Conrad Seneca of the Seneca Nation in upstate New York said on Aug. 28 that Trump's order violates a more than 200-year-old treaty, according to reporting from the Associated Press.
“The President cannot assert ownership over our culture or erase it through irresponsible political action,” he said.
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The 1794 Treaty of Canandaigua is one of the earliest establishing peace between the United States and native nations, and was signed by George Washington, according to the New York State Museum. The treaty established "peace and friendship," and mentions Lake Ontario by name to establish borders of tribal land.
Chief Donald Maracle of the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte in Ontario, Canada, said he hopes Trump will apologize for disrespecting the name's indigenous origins.
"Changing the name of the lake is not acceptable," he said.