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Many just call it the mountain.
But for centuries, Mt. Rainier, the most iconic image of the Pacific northwest, went by another name.
"Our people generally called it Mt. Tahoma," said Puyallup Tribal Culture director Connie McCloud.
The change to Rainier came about after George Vancouver spotted the mountain in 1792 and renamed it after his friend Peter Rainier, a British admiral who fought against Americans in the revolutionary war.
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There has been debate over that name change for more than two centuries.
Now that Denali in Alaska has shed its former moniker Mt. McKinley by executive order, the discussion over Mt. Rainier's European renaming versus its original name has been sparked once again.
"I believe that is should have the name that our people would have acknowledged it by," McCloud said.
McCloud said while different tribes often called the mountain different names, Tahoma was the most widely used.
It means the source of the waters, or sometimes, mother of the waters. And it has great importance in the history of the Puyallup and several local native American tribes.
"Not only the physical relationship between ourselves and the mountain, but that's where our water begins. That's where the gift of life comes from."
It's also been important to the city of Tacoma, which was renamed after the mountain from Commencement City in the 1860s. Some argue Tacoma is a mispronunciation of Tahoma.
For years, many locals refused to utter the word Rainier. Even in local magazines from 100 years ago.
"The mountain is referred to as Mt. Tacoma," said former mayor and Tacoma Historical Society director Dr. Bill Baarsma.
Debate over the best name has raged off and on, and the idea of toss out Peter Rainier and returning to the original name Tahoma keeps coming back.
"There should be an effort to reclaim the proper name," said Baarsma. "We shouldn't be naming a mountain after someone that we fought against in the Revolutionary War."
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