Key Points
- Queensland's Fraser Island was recently renamed K'gari.
- There has been a surge in campaigns to rename places, replacing their colonial names with traditional ones.
- While there is support, renaming initiatives have also encountered resistance.
The adoption of K'gari for the area previously known as Fraser Island is the latest traditional name to find its place back on the map.
The world's largest sand island, 300km north of Brisbane, was the scene of a ceremonial celebration last week when its former name was reverted to a traditional name meaning 'paradise'.
The name Fraser Island was a tribute to Eliza Fraser, a woman who was shipwrecked on the island in 1836.
Gayle Minniecon, the chair of the Butchulla Aboriginal Corporation, said: "It was through disrespect to the Butchulla people that her name, K'gari - the home of the Butchulla people - was taken away."
"Thankfully, it is now through respect to the Butchulla people that K'gari, her name, has been reclaimed," he said.
Along with the name, more than 19 hectares of land were returned to the corporation.
Members of the Butchulla people, who are the Traditional Owners of K'gari, dance during the official ceremony for the renaming of Fraser Island to K'gari. Source: AAP / Darren England
Captain James Cook first sighted the island in May 1770 and named it "Great Sandy Peninsula" in the mistaken belief that it was connected to the mainland.
Some other names include Sandy Cape, Fraser's Island, and then recently just Fraser Island, after a ship, helmed by Captain James Fraser, was wrecked on the reef, and his wife Eliza Fraser and several sailors landed by leaking lifeboat on the island.
'It's a beautiful thing'
Professor Ngiare Brown is the first female and first Indigenous Chancellor of James Cook University. She is in favour of renaming or revitalising the traditional names of places.
"I actually think it is a beautiful thing. I know people are often uncomfortable with change for whatever reason, but in fact, they're not," she said.
But not everyone is happy with the decision to change the name.
Uluru is an iconic Australian natural feature. Source: AAP / Lukas Coch
The incorrect spelling of 'Ayres Rock' also started trending on Twitter, as people unsupportive of the name change compared the decision to Uluru, with many not knowing how to spell the landmark's former name.
Uluru was named Ayers Rock in 1873 by a British explorer, and in 1993, the rock was officially given the dual name Ayers Rock/Uluru. In 2002, the order of the official names was swapped to its current Uluru/Ayers Rock.
For the local people, the Anangu, the renaming was celebrated with inma – song and dance.
What's the difference between renaming and reclaiming?
There is some confusion surrounding the distinction between renaming and reclaiming.
While renaming refers to giving a name to a place that already has an existing name, reclaiming centres around restoring the original name that existed for thousands of years before colonisation.
"Reclaiming what we are actually doing is gaining. We are gaining, and we are being gifted these traditional names, which I think is incredibly generous, and respectful with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people," Professor Brown said.
What other discussions regarding renaming are taking place elsewhere?
In New Zealand, many places carry both Maori and English names, while Indigenous names for geographical locations are becoming more common in Canada.
In Australia, First Nations communities are reclaiming areas where their culture and languages have faced assimilation or erasure attempts by assigning Indigenous names to locations or renaming existing ones.
Tasmania has introduced an Aboriginal and Dual Naming Policy to allow geographical features and places to be given both English and Aboriginal names.
But the federal government has not taken a definitive stance on whether they will implement policies that would facilitate the restoration of traditional names to places.
'Embrace the history of our country'
Senator for the Northern Territory Malarndirri McCarthy encourages all Australians to respect and embrace the First Nations culture.
"I reached out to all Australians, and please embrace the history of our country that goes back over 60,000 years," she said.
"Embrace the learning because it belongs to you and your descendants as well, to respectfully walk, the places that you do, to know some history about people who lived there for thousands and thousands of years and the teaching that goes there but it's also about First Nations people learning as well and upholding the guardianship of centuries and centuries and centuries-old culture."
