What's in a name?

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The recent kerfuffle (commotion) about pulling down statues and changing ‘inappropriate’ names of places and building is having ramifications in Australia. One area that is being renamed is the mountain range in Western Australia’s (WA) Kimberley region, currently known as the King Leopold Ranges. The ranges run for more than 500km through the west and central Kimberley in the north of the state. The ranges were named in 1879 by WA explorer and political figure Alexander Forrest, who named a number of ranges after the era's European monarchs. King Leopold was chosen by Forrest due to his "interest in exploration". However, the Belgian king is estimated to have caused the death of up to 10 million citizens in the Congo Free State in Africa. Statues of King Leopold have been removed from sites in Belgium in the wake of the BLM protests. The ranges will now be known as the Wunaamin-Miliwindi Ranges. It’s a combination of the Ngarinyin and Bunuba words for the ranges. I just wish indigenous names were a bit easier to remember - and pronounce. We haven’t toured the north of our own state yet. We should be there now. I don’t have any photos from that region. However, here is another cute aboriginal name. Gabbyquoiquoi means ‘water plenty plenty’.