Brisbane would become Miguntyun under push for landmarks to revert to Aboriginal titles

A CAMPAIGN to revert back to the original aboriginal name for Queensland’s capital city and other iconic landmarks is gathering steam, with the Palaszczuk Government urging stakeholders to have their say on the proposal. HAVE YOUR SAY.

BRISBANE could be renamed Miguntyun as a push for Aboriginal place names to be adopted across Queensland gathers steam.

Ten proposals are before the Queensland Department of Natural Resources seeking to revert landmarks to traditional names, while Aboriginal elders have also launched bids to rename, or co-name, Burleigh Heads and Mount Stapylton in the state’s southeast.

Aboriginal historians have long argued the Queensland capital should revert to its traditional name of Miguntyun, so-called because a stretch of Brisbane River resembled a “migun”, the Yugarabul word for the tip of a spearhead or spike.

Aunty Deborah Sandy believes Brisbane should be renamed Miguntyun, an Aboriginal word for the stretch of the Brisbane River through the CBD. Picture: AAP/Steve Pohlner

Debbie Sandy, whose father Desmond Sandy was last year part of an unsuccessful native title claim over Brisbane, yesterday said adopting Miguntyan would be “a day for celebration” for Aboriginal people.

“That would be a blessing for our people,” she said.

“My ancestors were born in the area that is now the Botanical Gardens back when it really was a Garden of Eden and people from all around would say they were going to Miguntyun.

“The local Murri community would be very supportive of it.”

References to Miguntyun were known among Europeans as early as the diaries of explorer Ludwig Leichhardt in the 1840s.

It referred to an area stretching from southern Brisbane to Breakfast Creek while other tribes further afield also had modified versions of the same name for the region.

Other naming proposals include Mount Wheeler near Rockhampton being renamed Gai-i, with nearby Jim Crow Mountain to be called Baga.

The application claims the mountain is “sacred to the Darumbal people, who have a strong desire for the name of the mountains to revert back to their traditional name”.

Other proposals call for landmarks with no existing name to be recognised by Aboriginal titles, including streams, lakes and mountains in central Queensland, the state’s far north, the Sunshine Coast and the Scenic Rim.

There is also a push on the Gold Coast for Burleigh Heads and Mount Stapylton to be renamed, along with Mount Warning across the NSW border in the Tweed Valley.

There is also a push to rename Mt Warning Wollumbin. Picture: Christa Merkes-Frei

Most plans call for an initial period of “co-naming”, similar to Ayers Rock/Uluru, with the hope European titles would eventually disappear from use.

Natural Resources minister Anthony Lynham encouraged stakeholders to get involved.

“However, place name changes are always in the hands of the whole community involved and everyone has an opportunity to be heard through the public consultation,” he said.

“The Palaszczuk Government is committed to reconciliation and closing the social, economic and health gap between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Queenslanders and other Queenslanders.”