Indigenous leaders condemn Trump's move to rename Lake Ontario

Indigenous leaders and advocates are outraged after U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order to change the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America on Thursday.

The name Lake Ontario comes from the Wendat word Ontari:io, which means "the lake is beautiful, the lake is big."

Prime Minister Mark Carney pointed to that origin on Thursday and said the lake will be known as Lake Ontario "then, now and always."

Wendat Nation Grand Chief Pierre Picard told The Canadian Press his nation was "shocked" to hear about Trump's renaming of Lake Ontario, calling it an attempt to eradicate their history in the region.

The Wendat occupied parts of the St. Lawrence Valley to the Great Lakes, as the area was rich with both pre- and post-contact trade routes. They named the lake "Ontari:io."

Its name predates the founding of both Canada and the United States.

Picard said he requested a meeting with U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra to talk about Trump’s move and one will be scheduled for next week.

"I want to tell him that it is unacceptable for us, as a nation, to have a president who can eradicate our history, our culture and our identity," Picard said. "I don’t think anyone is able to change Trump’s mind, but for us it’s important for me as grand chief to bring our voice to the United States and tell them we are very upset with the decision."

Picard said he hopes mapping companies do not comply with the unilateral name change from Trump, and that he has been told by Carney that Canada won’t either.

American mapping company MapQuest posted on social media Thursday that it's not changing the name of Lake Ontario. In the post, the company directed people to a website where they could choose their own name for the body of water, sharing a picture with the example "Lake Are We Doing This Again?"

Trump's move has been heavily ridiculed. Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, posted a video of himself at a McDonalds restaurant, signing a fast food napkin to decree Lake Michigan would now be called "Lake Wisconsin."

"See, I can sign napkins that say things, too," Evers wrote on X.

The city council in Rochester, NY, the largest American city on the lake, passed a proclamation on Friday unanimously condemning Trump's move and declaring Rochester will continue to use the Lake Ontario name.

"No serious person from the Native Tribes or U.S. and Canadian cities which share the lake, will ever call Lake Ontario 'Lake America,' the proclamation reads.

“This desperate and flaccid stunt by the President is a clear distraction from the issues that matter most to U.S. voters: the failing economy, housing, affordability and, lest we forget, President Trump’s unwanted and unwarranted war with Iran,” the proclamation said.

Trump directed all arms of the federal government to start calling it Lake America.

On Thursday, Trump pointed to his decision in 2025 to sign an executive order changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, and mused that maybe next he'll change the name of the Atlantic or Pacific oceans.

Mohawk policy analyst Russ Diabo called the change "totally asinine," and said it's typical of Trump's "racism towards anything Indigenous."

Veldon Coburn, associate professor of public administration and governance at McGill University, said Trump's executive order "means nothing in the scheme of the nations that pre-exist America by millennia."

"It's more humorous for Indigenous people to see someone try to engage in some sort of iconoclasm of erasing Indigenous presence because we've been here for thousands of years prior and we're not going anywhere," said Coburn. 

If there’s any bright side to Trump’s action, Picard said it’s that Canadians now know where the name Lake Ontario really comes from — not the province, but his people.

"We’re proud of that, for sure," he said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 28, 2026. 

-With files from Kelly Geraldine Malone

By Alessia Passafiume and Catherine Morrison | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.