Rochester — The Rochester City Council on Friday unanimously adopted a proclamation rejecting President Donald Trump’s executive order to rename Lake Ontario “Lake America,” declaring the city will continue to use the lake’s historic name in all official capacities.
City leaders cite history, Indigenous roots
The proclamation criticizes the federal action as a political stunt and framed the question of the lake’s name as a matter of historical and cultural record rather than administrative convenience.
Council members emphasized that the name Lake Ontario predates the Canadian province and is rooted in centuries of Indigenous history and tradition shared by communities on both sides of the international border. The proclamation notes that the lake’s name derives from a Wyandot word, ontarí'io, commonly translated as “great lake” or “lake of shining waters,” and states that the province of Ontario took its name from the lake, not the other way around.
“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 resolution explicitly criticized the timing and intent of the executive order, saying it is a distraction from pressing issues such as the economy, housing affordability and international tensions. While the City Council does not have authority to override federal decisions, members said they could control how Rochester government refers to the lake in its documents, signage and communications.
Local implications and symbolic resistance
City officials framed the proclamation as both symbolic and practical. By directing municipal departments to continue using the established name, the council aims to preserve consistency across city records, maps and public materials. Council leaders argued a federal renaming does not — and cannot — erase centuries of Indigenous cultural ties to the water.
Legal questions about federal authority over geographic names were not central to the proclamation. Instead, council members focused on local identity and the shared history of communities that border the lake.
- Action taken: Unanimous City Council proclamation affirming continued use of Lake Ontario by the city.
- Federal action opposed: President Trump’s executive order renaming the lake “Lake America.”
- Reasoning cited: Historical origins of the lake’s name, Indigenous heritage, and regional consensus among U.S. and Canadian lakeshore communities.
Where Rochester stands in a broader debate
Rochester’s statement aligns with reactions from other local officials and residents who, according to media reports, also rebuffed the proposed federal change. City Council’s approach is to preserve established local practice regardless of federal-level directives. The proclamation stresses that municipal governments, Indigenous nations, and neighboring Canadian communities share a cultural connection to the lake that a federal renaming cannot erase.
Council members did not announce additional legal or legislative steps. Instead, the proclamation serves as a public record of the city’s position and directs municipal agencies to maintain the long-standing name in all official Rochester uses.
| Entity | Position |
|---|---|
| Rochester City Council | Continue using “Lake Ontario” in all official capacities |
| President (federal executive order) | Renamed lake “Lake America” |
For Rochester residents, the proclamation is likely to mean no immediate change in how the lake is identified in city materials, events and public-facing communications. It also signals a municipal effort to center Indigenous history and regional continuity in decisions about local place names.
The council’s action may be followed by similar statements from other municipalities bordering the lake, though any federal-level change would remain a separate matter subject to national administrative processes.
Local officials said the intent of the proclamation is not to engage in a prolonged legal battle but to ensure Rochester’s official documents and public messaging continue to reflect the name widely used by the city’s residents and by the Indigenous nations whose languages and histories gave the lake its original name.
