The name of a renowned mountain that dominates the skyline of Barthurst in the central west of New South Wales has been changed to reflect its significance to the local First Nations people.
Key points:
- Orange’s Mount Canobolas will be dually known as Gaanha Bula, to recognise the local Wiradjuri people’s connection
- Aunty Alice Williams says it is crucial step in preserving and promoting First Nations language
- Elder Neil Ingram hopes to see other landmarks receive Indigenous recognition
Orange’s Mount Canobolas will now be known as Gaanha Bula-Mount Canobolas, which means two shoulders in the Wiradjuri language.
Wiradjuri elder Neil Ingram lodged the name-change application for Mount Canobolas with the Geographic Names Board in December.
Mr Ingram said it had been a long journey to have the Wiradjuri people’s connection to the mountain recognised.
“It is back to its traditional name, all the hard work has paid off, and it makes me a very happy, proud old man,” he said.
Mr Ingram said the dual name would play a crucial role in teaching young First Nations people about the importance of Indigenous language.
“Aboriginal place naming is central to our language revitalisations, and helps reawaken, preserve, and grow our language, culture and identity,” he said.
“We need to instil that pride in our young people, they need to be proud of their language, and heritage.”
Sacred site
Gaanha Bula-Mount Canobolas is an important cultural site for local Indigenous people.
Wiradjuri woman Aunty Alice Williams said First Nations people had been gathering on the mountain for thousands of years.
“It is a place where everybody came together for ceremonies, trade and marriage so it is a really significant place within this landscape,” she said.
Ms Williams said the dual name provided an opportunity to teach people about the heritage of the mountain.
“For non-Indigenous people to know that this place is here and the significance and cultural value of it is vital, because it is a rich history that we should all embrace together,” she said.
Fight continues
Gaanha Bula also relates to an Aboriginal Dreamtime story about three brothers —connecting it to Mount Panorama-Wahluu in Bathurst, which was renamed in 2015, and Mt Macquarie near Carcoar, which is being considered for renaming to Galbman Giiliya.
In the Dreamtime story, each mountain represents a brother — Gaanha-bula is the eldest, Wahluu is the middle brother and Galbman Giiliya is the younger brother.
As the story goes, Gaanha-bula and Wahluu both fell in love with the same girl and held a spear-throwing competition to see who would marry her. After several throws by each brother, Wahluu finally hit the target — but Gaanha-bula clubbed him in the back of the head, and he fell to the ground.
This made the spirit ancestors angry and the ground erupted, spilling lava over Wahluu’s body. Gaanha-bula ran home in fear, but the spirit ancestors struck him down, making the ground erupt and spill lava over him too.
Mr Ingram said changing the name of Mt Macquarie was his next priority.
“My plan is to get recognition on Mount Macquarie so we can link the three brothers’ stories together,” he said,
“We have to promote our dreaming stories, that is what keeps us alive so Gaanha Bula and the other mountains are very important, sacred spiritual places, and we must protect and preserve them at all times.”
Loading…
If you’re unable to load the form, you can access it here.
Loading…