State board to consider changing mountain’s made-up name

WINDSOR, Vt. – A Vermont state board plans to hear a man’s request to change the name of Mount Ascutney (ah-SKUT’-nee) because it’s a made-up name.

Hartland resident Rob Hutchins says he recently discovered the name Ascutney is made up and the original name of the summit was Kaskadenak, which means “wide mountain” in the Abenaki (a-behn-AHK’-ee) language.

Hutchins tells Vermont Public Radio he always thought the mountain’s name was a Native American name but the current name doesn’t actually have meaning.

Koasek Traditional Band of the Sovereign Abenaki Nation Chief Paul Bunnell worked with Hutchins to help track down the proper spelling and pronunciation of Kaskadenak.

The State of Vermont Board of Libraries has statutory authority to rename mountains and has scheduled a special hearing July 17 to consider the name change.

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Information from: WVPS-FM, http://www.vpr.net