State Board Takes Input On Proposed Harney Peak Name Change
RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) — Supporters of renaming Harney Peak in the Black Hills dominated a state board meeting on Wednesday held to take public input on the proposed change.
The South Dakota Board on Geographic Names met in Rapid City Wednesday night, and commenters made cases for and against replacing the name of the peak, the highest point in the U.S. east of the Rocky Mountains. The board also heard from the public at a different meeting earlier Wednesday in Custer.
Nearly every attendee in Rapid City who spoke within the first three hours of the meeting was in favor of giving the peak a new designation. It was originally named for Army Gen. William S. Harney, who in September 1855 led a group of soldiers who killed Sioux Indians in Nebraska.
Basil Brave Heart, who proposed the change in September, told the board that the peak shouldn’t be named after a man who committed atrocities against Native Americans.
“I don’t want this peak to define our generation coming up,” said Brave Heart, who is a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe.
One suggested name for the geographic feature is Black Elk Peak, but many others also have been proposed.
“Anything but Harney,” said Carla Ann Rabbit, a member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe.
Glen Lakner, 85, who lives near Wall, testified against renaming Harney Peak. Lakner, who served in the military, said he took issue with criticisms of Harney. He said holding a grudge since 1855 is too long.
“Let’s quit digging up … the antique stuff and the stuff that’s gone and go on ahead,” he said.
The board will continue taking public input at two more meetings and could issue a recommendation for a new name to the U.S. Board on Geographic Names.
