Fifteen natural sites around Shire of Denmark council set to have Noongar dual-naming pending Landgate tick

More than a dozen natural landmarks in Denmark may soon officially hold dual Noongar and European names, following a Shire of Denmark decision last month to recognise Aboriginal cultural heritage. Denmark council officially approved the dual naming of 15 locations around the shire at its October 28 meeting, with the motion carried unanimously by all nine councillors. The proposed dual names will be sent to Landgate for formal approval. The project has been in the works for more than a decade, with the shire collaborating with local Noongar elders and multiple Aboriginal corporations, including Waigyl Kaip and the South West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council to understand the culture and history behind each place and its Noongar name. Freshly minted shire president Aaron Wiggins, who was voted and sworn in to the top job at the same October 28 meeting, said the official dual naming of significant locations in the area marked an important milestone in reconciliation and cultural respect for the Denmark community. “Dual naming and the recognition of our Aboriginal cultural heritage reflect the shire’s commitment to strengthening our shared connection to where we live,” he said. “Acknowledging the deep history of the Bibbulmun and Menang people of the Noongar nation enriches our understanding of place and identity in Denmark.” In a report prepared ahead of the meeting, shire officers wrote that the dual naming initiative aimed to honour the traditional custodians of the land by formally recognising significant places with their Indigenous names. Work on the project commenced in 2012, with 13 years of research and collaboration producing the list of 15 places around the shire to be dual-named. The locations include mountains, rivers, coastal bays, lakes, and inlets across the shire from Peaceful Bay/Kwallup to Mount Lindesay/Peepetup. The City of Albany’s has utilised dual naming since 2021, with the Restoring Menang Noongar Place Names project seeing 28 locations submitted to Landgate in June of 2021, and approved for use in August. A further five places were put forward by the council in February 2022, among them Mammang Koort/King George Sound. Albany’s project, which originally discovered 66 Indigenous names for locations in the area, was at the time believed to be the biggest dual naming project undertaken by a local government in Australia. The next step for the project will be to submit the endorsed dual names to Landgate for final approval, before developing signage and educational materials to inform the community about the cultural context of each name and the significance of the location to the Noongar people. Dual-named locations in the Shire of Denmark: Kooryunderup/Mount Hallowell Wakundup/Mount Shadforth Marjit/Wilson Inlet Kordalup/Parry Inlet Quarram/Irwin Inlet Quorrimup/Boat Harbour Kwoorabup/Denmark River Genulup/Hay River Kwikup/Quickup River Gnowerumbup/Kent River Waalitchup/Bow River Kwallup/Peaceful Bay Peepetup/Mount Lindesay Kurlalup/Boat Harbour Lakes Kwakoorillup/Frankland River