Rural autochthony?: The rejection of an aboriginal placename in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia

This article addresses the question of why the name 'Mullawallah', advanced by local Wada wurrung for a new suburb in the Ballarat area, was contested and rejected by residents. It argues that the intersection between corporate profit, government policy and meaning-based issues of belongin...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inCultural studies review Vol. 22; no. 2; pp. 114 - 131
Main Author Newton, Janice
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published 01.09.2016
Subjects
Aboriginal Australians
Civil rights
Government policy
Land tenure
Social conditions
Social life and customs
Australia
Victoria
Ballarat
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Summary:This article addresses the question of why the name 'Mullawallah', advanced by local Wada wurrung for a new suburb in the Ballarat area, was contested and rejected by residents. It argues that the intersection between corporate profit, government policy and meaning-based issues of belonging should be highlighted for a deeper understanding of practices around place naming. The contextual conditions regarding the democratisation of place-naming policy, overwhelming power of commercial developers to 'name Australia' with marketable high status names and a 'carpentered' pastoral environment 'emptied' of the Indigenous population, created an environment conducive for the contests over naming. The Indigenous people appeared to have been wiped from the landscape and the worldview of settler locals. Concepts of 'locals' and 'rural autochthony' prove useful for understanding the ambiguities of belonging and placename attachment in Australia. The article argues that cultural politics of naming remains a contested social practice.
Bibliography:CULSTUREV2.jpg
Cultural Studies Review, Vol. 22, No. 2, Sep 2016: 114-131
ISSN:1837-8692
1446-8123
1837-8692
DOI:10.5130/csr.v22i2.4478