In Colorado, a conversation continues around the potential renaming of the state’s most famous peak.

Pictured: A sign in Woodland Park, Colorado near the base of Pikes Peak displaying the mountain's Ute name. Photo credits to Uncover Colorado

As place names around the nation continue to be changed to reflect the original histories of the land, calls to return Pikes Peak to its Ute name, Tavá (pronounced Tuh-VAH in the Ute language), are echoing across the state. The Ute tribe, who are the original inhabitants of the area, named the mountain Tavá Kaa-vi - meaning “Sun Mountain” - due to the way sunlight first appears on its summit before making its way down to the surrounding land. The band of Utes who lived at the mountain’s base are the Tabeguache, the People of Sun Mountain. While the peak is sacred to the Ute, other tribes including the Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Comanche often traveled through the area throughout history.

When US Army Lieutenant Zebulon Pike entered what later became Colorado Territory in 1806, he and his men made an unsuccessful attempt to summit the peak. Decades later during the Colorado Gold Rush, settlers passing through the region began to refer to the mountain as Pikes Peak, a label which has persisted to the present-day. Pikes Peak has since loomed large in Colorado history and the image of the American West, with its summit views serving as the inspiration for "America the Beautiful" by Katharine Lee Bates. While some claim that changing the name would be a detriment to the economy that has been built around the mountain, as many businesses are branded with the Pike’s Peak name, others continue to push for the peak to be known by its Indigenous title.

Calls for Pikes Peak to be returned to its Ute name come amidst the renaming of other Colorado landmarks: A mountain in Clear Creek County whose previous moniker was a derogatory slur now bears the name of a 19th century Cheyenne woman, Mestaa’ėhehe (Owl Woman). The peak was renamed after Sec. of the Interior Deb Haaland, Laguna Pueblo, announced efforts to remove derogatory place names around the country.

Join the Tipi Raisers family as we seek to reconcile this complicated history and alleviate the conditions of poverty that are a direct result of it! To learn more about this and other Indigenous issues, email mackenzie@thetipiraisers.org to sign up for our newsletter!

Sources include: Coverage of this topic from The Gazette and Indian Country Today, as well as resources from the Colorado Encyclopedia and the Southern Ute Tribe