Seneca Nation Demands Trump Reverse 30-Day Lake Ontario Rename Order
Updated
Updated · The Associated Press · Aug 29
Seneca Nation Demands Trump Reverse 30-Day Lake Ontario Rename Order
3 articles · Updated · The Associated Press · Aug 29
Summary
J. Conrad Seneca on Friday urged President Donald Trump to rescind his order renaming Lake Ontario as “Lake America,” calling it disrespectful to Indigenous people and their history.
The challenge centers on Trump’s executive order, signed this week, directing the Interior Department to change the name in the U.S. geographic naming service within 30 days as U.S.-Canada trade tensions escalate.
Seneca Nation said the move violates the 1794 Treaty of Canandaigua and erases a name rooted in Indigenous languages: Ontario comes from the Huron word “oniatarí:io,” while the Seneca name means “beautiful lake.”
Canada has rejected the change, with Prime Minister Mark Carney noting the lake’s name predates both Canadian Confederation and the U.S. Declaration of Independence; Trump cannot compel Canada to adopt the new name.