A new proposal for Lion Head in Glacier View would give the mountain Its traditional name

A proposal to change the official name of a Glacier View mountain known as Lion Head is making its way through the approval process, and MatSu Borough residents have the chance to weigh-in with comments.

Under the name change proposal Lion Head, which sits just off the Glenn Highway at Milepost 106 at the junction of Caribou Creek and the Matanuska River, would be redesignated Natsede’aayi, which means “rock that is standing” or “rock that stands” in Ahtna, the application states. Pronounced “Nah-ted-á-ee,” the name is what the Ahtna traditionally used for the mountain, the application states.

The name change was proposed by officials with the Native Village of Tazlina, which is the closest Ahtna Village to the mountain and is adjacent to Glennallen.

“It was not named for what it looked like. It's indigenous. It’s the first name it ever received,” said Donna Renard, a tribal member and employee of the Native Village of Tazlina.

The mountain carries deep cultural significance for both the Ahtna and Dena'ina people, Renard said. As a child traveling through the area with her grandparents in the 1960s, she remembers her grandmother noting that the mountain marked the line between traditional Ahtna and Dena'ina lands.

“It’s actually a real spiritual landmark for us. That area is leaving Ahtna country and we’re entering into the Dena'ina people country,” she said. “My grandmother would pray that we’d have a good trip and have good interactions going into someone else’s area, and would ask for safe return back to our country.”

The mountain is also an important feature in a pair of traditional Ahtna and Dena'ina stories. In the Ahtna story, Renard said, the mountain is said to be the remains of a jealous woman who left her husband near Knik with her sister, then turned to stone as she gazed back in his direction. Previous to the 1964 earthquake a rock protrusion at the top of the mountain destroyed in the quake represented the woman’s head, she said.

Name changes follow an official process that includes both approval from a Alaska state historical commission and the U.S. Board on Geographic Names (USGS). Input on name changes is collected from local stakeholders, including the MatSu Borough planning department, and sent to the USGS with the state’s recommendation.

A recent Borough announcement about the name change proposal and public comment period was met with hundreds of comments in local social media groups. Many of those were heated, arguing that a name change is confusing and eliminate the commenters’ own connections to the area.

The name “Lion Head” was first reported by the USGS on maps in 1948, according to the application and is documented as “Lions Head” or “Lion’s Head” elsewhere. The USGS also referred to the mountain as “Glacier Point” in 1951. “Shem Pete’s Alaska,” considered to be the preeminent history of traditional stories and names for the Upper Cook Inlet, notes the mountain was known by both English names, but long called Natsede’aayi by the Ahtna.

Marce Simeon, the tribal administrator for the Native Village of Tazlina who helped prepare the application, said changing the officially designated name is simply calling the mountain by what it’s actually been named for hundreds of years.

“Change is a little bit difficult, but it was easy for the Ahtna people to say ‘OK’ for the first change. So we’re not changing it, we’re trying to bring it back,” she said. “This particular landmark is significantly important. And we should be calling it by what it originally was.”

Simeon said she hopes by doing so they don’t just acknowledge an important landmark for the Village, but also have a chance to teach newer Alaskans about indigenous history.

“If we’re just complacent about the name now we’re missing out on an opportunity to share with other Alaskans,” she said. “This really connects back to Alaska’s first people and their importance and connection to this land.”

An unrelated Borough effort to construct a maintained trail and install a pit toilet and trailhead on the mountain is currently on hold, Borough officials said. Borough residents can submit comments on the name change to the planning commission by emailing Peggy.horton@matsugov.us by May 15. A public hearing on the proposal will be held June 5 at 6 p.m. in the Borough Assembling chamber and verbal testimony will be accepted.