33 to Cowlitz, Muckleshoot, Nisqually, Puyallup, Squaxin Island, Yakama, and Coast Salish people.17 They used to use to be strong caretakers of their land. They would always make sure to collect resources for their land so that they would be able to thrive. Well, this was all before the British came in and took over their land. In 1792, George Vancouver, a British explorer, renamed Mount Tacoma. He was the first known European to explore what we now call Puget Sound.18 He decided that it would be a smart decision to name this mountain after his best friend, Peter Rainier. He was a captain and eventually, an admiral in the Royal Navy.19 He believed that since he did a lot of work for the British Empire, he deserved to have something named after him. Sadly, this name stuck to the mountain. Vancouver did this multiple times with other landmarks, such as Mount Baker, Mount St. Helens, and Puget Sound.20 There were multiple fights about this name change but nothing ever changed. With this name being there by colonizers, the history and origins of this mountain were lost. The history of these landmarks mentioned in this chapter has been lost thanks to the colonizers. They believe that changing the name to fit something connected to their culture makes so much more sense. However, this is incorrect. As mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, name placing is so important to items, especially landmarks. For example, the Fox River, name connects it back to the history of the inhabitants of the land. With this name, people are able to remember that, at one point in time, the Meskwaki tribe were the residents of this land. People need to understand that stripping away names removes the old life or history of something and starts a 17 “Mount Rainier History,” National Parks Service (U.S. Department of the Interior), https://www.nps.gov/mora/learn/historyculture/mount-rainier-history.htm. 18 2019 Video by Stephen Hegg Knute Berger, “Why Mount Rainier Was Once Called Mount Tacoma,” Crosscut, November 11, 2022, https://crosscut.com/2019/04/why-mount-rainier-was-once-called-mount-tacoma 19 2019 Video by Stephen Hegg Knute Berger, “Why Mount Rainier Was Once Called Mount Tacoma,” Crosscut, November 11, 2022, https://crosscut.com/2019/04/why-mount-rainier-was-once-called-mount-tacoma 20 2019 Video by Stephen Hegg Knute Berger, “Why Mount Rainier Was Once Called Mount Tacoma,” Crosscut, November 11, 2022, https://crosscut.com/2019/04/why-mount-rainier-was-once-called-mount-tacoma
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