Indigenous Canadian chief criticises Trump’s Lake Ontario name change push as feud deepens
Indigenous Canadian chief Donald Maracle has criticised US President Donald Trump’s push to rename Lake Ontario — a body of water shared by both countries — to ‘Lake America’, labelling the move “disrespectful”.
Lake Ontario derives from an Indigenous Wendat word dating back more than 400 years, meaning “the lake is beautiful, the lake is great”.
“Changing the name of the lake is not acceptable, and I don’t think it would ever be supported by the Haudenosaunee people from where its origin is, or anybody in Canada, and probably maybe even not by a lot of people in the United States,” he said.
Trump signed an executive order renaming it to ‘Lake America’ last week as trade talks between the two neighbouring countries collapsed.
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