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Nevada panel backs new tribal name for Jeff Davis Peak

(Brian Maffly | Tribune file photo) Jeff Davis Peak, viewed here from the summit of neighboring Wheeler Peak in Nevada's Great Basin National Park, drew its name from the Mississippi statesman who would become leader of the secessionist South during the Civil War. Federal officials are considering proposals to change the 12,775-foot peak's name in light of a national debate over how we memorialize Confederate heroes, whom many regard as champions of racist causes.

Reno, Nev. • A state board wants to change the name of a mountain peak in eastern Nevada’s Great Basin National Park to more appropriately recognize a geological area important to a native tribe instead of honoring a Confederate leader from the Civil War.

The Nevada Board of Geographic Names voted unanimously Tuesday to recommend to a federal panel in charge of making such decisions that the name of Jeff Davis Peak be changed to the Shoshone name Doso Doyabi.

The phrase — pronounced “DOH-soh doy-AH-bee” — means “White Mountain” in the native dialect.

Tribal elders say it’s a reference to the fact the summit of the 12,771-foot mountain near the Utah line was covered in snow year-round.

Support for a name change emerged in 2017 during a push to remove Confederate monuments nationally after race-based violence in Charlottesville, Va.