Cairns council to investigate new names for Blackfellow Creek in Edmonton
Potential new names for a Cairns creek labelled as discriminatory will be investigated as part of a call to replace “inappropriate and racist place names” across Australia. HAVE YOUR SAY
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TRADITIONAL owners have welcomed a council decision to investigate potential new names for a southside creek labelled as racist and discriminatory.
At a Cairns Regional Council meeting on Wednesday morning, the planning and environment committee unanimously backed councillor Rob Pyne’s call for an investigation into new names for Blackfellows Creek at Edmonton, which he said was “jolting” at best and “discriminatory” at worst.
Gudju Gudju Fourmile of the Yidinji people said the idea to consider a new name was a long time coming and had personal significance with connections to his great grandfather in the early 1900s.
“My great grandfather lived there with his wife and their daughter, my grandmother,” Mr Fourmile said.
“He was a peacemaker, but he and others weren’t allowed to come into Cairns at the time.”
Mr Fourmile said that consultation had not started yet but “thanks to Cr Pyne, he’s bringing it to the floor”.
“It’s a good thing for that discussion to be had,” he said.
“It’s not just my family but there are a lot of other families with association to that area.”
Asked about potential new names, Mr Fourmile said it should revert to the name that the Yidinji first designated it: Bana Gindarja.
Blackfellow Creek, previously known as Blackfellow’s Creek, was named after the Indigenous inhabitants, according to the Cairns Historical Society.
Cr Pyne said there was nothing to lose by looking into the issue.
“Most of our place names in the area – whether it’s Mount Isley, Mount Sheridan, Mount Peter, Gordonvale – they’re all named after settler families that moved here during colonisation of the area,” he said.
“Not a lot of places have Indigenous references and then where we have one in Edmonton. It’s Blackfellows Creek, which is not inclusive or a name with which the local Indigenous people identify.”
Cr Pyne urged the council to find a name that local Indigenous people could embrace.
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Place naming is the responsibility of the Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy but Cr Pyne said it “is up to local communities to take the lead”.
The move comes as part of Cr Pyne’s call for a wider investigation to replace “inappropriate and racist place names” across Australia.
A report will be prepared and presented to the council at a later date for further consideration before a submission is made to the state government.
Originally published as Cairns council to investigate new names for Blackfellow Creek in Edmonton