Reflecting on CORE’s place names wins in 2024
As the year comes to a close, we wanted to take a moment to reflect on and celebrate everything we’ve accomplished in 2024. This year has been filled with challenges, growth, and incredible victories towards advancing equity and inclusion in the outdoors through renaming.
Eastern Cherokee youth create artwork at Kuwohi Days 2024. Photo courtesy of Kim Smith.
Kuwohi - the highest peak in the Great Smoky Mountains - was restored to its ancestral Cherokee name. This renaming represents a historic win for the restoration of Indigenous names to the landscape. You can read more about Kuwohi’s renaming here.
Kim Smith - a CORE Steering Committee leader - was appointed to the Federal Advisory Committee on Reconciliation in Place Names. We cannot wait to see all of the contributions Kim makes to this Committee! Read more about Kim’s appointment to the ACRPN here.
Native Youth leaders from the National Congress of American Indians Youth Commission at the Capitol advocating for the Reconciliation in Place Names Act. Photo courtesy of Jessica Lambert.
CORE hosted three renaming workshops with Indigenous youth across the country. This included a workshop in the Siksika Nation with youth from the Niitsitapi (Blackfoot Confederacy), a culture camp with Indigenous youth from across the southwest, and Kuwohi Days - a celebration of the mountain Kuwohi with youth from the Eastern Band of Cherokee.
CORE brought Native youth leaders from the National Congress of American Indians Youth Commission to the Capitol for a lobbying day. Starting with a lobbying training in the morning, they then visited four Congressional offices to advocate for the Reconciliation in Place Names Act, a bill that would codify renaming work as a priority for the Department of the Interior.
Kim Smith represented CORE at the June meeting of the Advisory Committee on Reconciliation in Place Names in Rapid City, South Dakota. She presented to the Committee about her experience in renaming campaigns and the significance of naming to Indigenous people and their connection to the land.
CORE hosted two site visits to active renaming campaigns. In June, we welcomed Native youth from the NCAI Midyear conference to Kuwohi - then still named Clingman’s Dome. They learned about the significance of this mountain to the Cherokee people and the importance of renaming work. CORE’s Southeast hub also held a site visit in Asheville, NC to what is currently named Pack Square.
CORE-hosted site visit to Kuwohi, June 2024. Photo courtesy of Jessica Lambert
CORE steering committee members presented our renaming work at three conferences around the country and one college course. This included the Ohio Public Interest Environmental Law Conference in Columbus, Ohio; the National Outdoor Recreation Conference in Lake Tahoe, NV; the National Congress of American Indians Midyear Conference in Cherokee, NC; and Ohio University’s “Know the Past, Change the Future” course in Athens, OH.
CORE grew its online presence, creating and launching our website as well as Instagram and Facebook accounts. Give us a follow @outdoorrenaming!
Finally, the Steering Committee worked with Eastern Cherokee graphic artist Luke Swimmer to design our beautiful new logo! We’ll be posting a full article in the new year, sharing the meaning behind the design and highlighting our artist, Luke.
Thanks to all of you for supporting and engaging in this important work over the past year. We can’t wait to see all the progress towards making this country’s landscapes more equitable and inclusive through renaming in 2025.