Ontario means lake of shining waters
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There has been a bit of a buzz since President Donald Trump decided to make an executive order renaming Lake Ontario as Lake America. Some hard core Trump supporters have been given to calling those who take issue with the renaming of one of the five Great Lakes as woke, Libtards, Dumbocrats and other not so nice names.
Trump and his pals point out that during his administration President Barack Obama changed the name of Mount McKinley back to its traditional Alaskan Native Name, Mount Denali. The Biden administration renamed several major U.S. Army bases that previously honored Confederate generals to instead honor historic American military figures. Fort Lee was renamed as Fort Gregg-Addams and Fort Gordon became Fort Eisenhower. By 2022, nearly 650 federal geographic features across the country were renamed in the cause of political correctness.
I certainly believe that much of this politically correct renaming went too far. The renaming of some professional sports teams and high school mascots strike an especially sour note with me. But disagreeing with some of the politically correct renaming done during past administrations does not make Trump's decision to now call Lake Ontario Lake America any less ridiculous. And it raises some interesting questions.
Why did Trump choose to change the name of Lake Ontario and not change the name of one of the other four Great Lakes? Lakes Michigan, Superior, Erie and Huron all have shorelines bordering Canada. If Trump changed the name from Ontario to America as a slap at Canada, the Canadians may very well be laughing at him. Trump's nomenclature shows his lack of knowledge regarding Canadian, U.S. and New York state history. Lake America, as Trump would like to now call it, was given its name Ontario by native people long before the U.S. and Canada existed as countries. The names of all five of the Great Lakes come from indigenous language and French colonial exploration and not from the Canadian government. When Trump foolishly renamed the Gulf of Mexico at least he insulted the correct country.
Will Trump be renaming New York's Ontario County and Ontario township to America township and America County as well? What about the Ontarios in Oregon, California, Ohio, Wisconsin, Illinois and Iowa? Should all of these cities, towns and counties be renamed also? It appears that not only is our president ignorant of Canadian, New York state and U.S. history, he also has no idea how often this native word has been used as the name of a location in states of the country he presides over.
By casting derogatory names at those not in favor of renaming Ontario, the lake of shining waters, as Lake America, Trump is actually insulting his own supporters. Trump won Ontario County in New York state in the 2024 presidential election. He also won in Ontario, Wis., and in several other Ontarios across the nation. And while some of his diehard supporters will go along with Trump's ignorant attempt to once again insult our friends to the north, the president's approval rating continues to plummet. As Trump's tariffs on Canadian goods continue to harm our entire country, the renaming of Lake Ontario adds insult to injury. Not to the Canadians, but to us Americans.
When I was a boy learning state history, we were taught a mnemonic device that, when put together, the first letters in the names of the Great Lakes, Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie and Superior spelled HOMES. The way that I am most disappointed in our President is that he did not rename all five of the Great Lakes so that this mnemonic devise spells TRUMP. I am not the first one to point this out but the mnemonic acronym as it stands now is SHAME. Trump didn't see that one coming. His lack of foresight in so may areas truly is a shame.
Andrew Ludwig is a retired math teacher and a retired public school and Catholic school administrator. He currently works as a substitute teacher in Chautauqua County.