Back to paradise: K’gari name formally reclaimed for famed Fraser Island

Fraser Island’s official place name has reverted to the word by which its original inhabitants, and a growing chorus of others, have known the world’s largest sand island for millennia: K’gari (pronounced “gurri”).

After a lengthy campaign, the World-Heritage-listed gem about 250 kilometres north of Brisbane will be stripped of the name Fraser, which is that of a shipwrecked Scottish woman whose stories falsely cast its Butchulla people as villains and led to their massacre and dispossession.

A formal ceremony to mark the decision attended by Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and traditional owners, whose name for the island means “paradise”, was held within its ancient dune-based rainforest heart on Wednesday.

An additional 19 hectares of land was also handed back to the Butchulla Aboriginal Corporation – the island’s registered native title owners – unable to be bought, sold or mortgaged, after 22-hectare handover last year.

“It was through disrespect to the Butchulla people that her name, K’gari – the home of the Butchulla people – was taken away,” corporation chair Gayle Minniecon said.

“Thankfully it is now through respect to the Butchulla people that K’gari – her name – has been reclaimed.

“Our oral history, our creation story will now be told and learnt as it should be. Our ancestors understood and committed to the importance of caring for K’gari since time immemorial and today we continue this cultural obligation.”

K’gari, formerly known as Fraser Island, is recognised by UNESCO for its freshwater lakes and unique sand dune-based ecosystems the Butchulla people have called home for tens-of-thousands of years.Credit: Tourism and Events Queensland

The move is the latest, and most significant, in a program by the Palaszczuk government amid its ongoing Path to Treaty to embrace First Nations names and remove racist language from locations across the state.

It follows changes in recent years to reference K’gari in the island’s UNESCO World Heritage and national park names, a process that has also restored Quandamooka language across parks on North Stradbroke (Minjerribah) and Moreton (Mulgumpin) islands off Brisbane.

Long-running calls to officially reclaim those traditional names continue. The K’gari decision also goes a step further than the formal dual-naming of Uluru/Ayers Rock – which was handed its current Pitjantjatjara-first title in 2002.

Other Australian states and territories also have dual-naming processes in place.

A globally popular tourist destination also well-known for its protected dingoes (“Wongari” to the Butchulla), K’gari made headlines in 2020 when bushfires scorched half the island, leaving some “long-term” environmental risks.

Formed by the slow and ongoing movement of sand over 2 million years, K’gari was originally known by Europeans as Great Sandy Island before it took the Fraser moniker after a ship carrying Eliza Fraser, her husband – the captain – and others, wrecked off its coast in 1836.

Her short stay was aided by Butchulla people, but her subsequent damaging – and now well-disputed – stories fed harmful colonial myths and were later claimed to be motivated by financial gain.

The state government received almost 6000 public submissions during consultation on the formal K’gari name change last year – the 30-year anniversary of its UNESCO list inclusion.