A new name, but still the same stunning beauty as ever
South Australia’s iconic Flinders Ranges National Park has officially been renamed to reflect the area’s Aboriginal heritage.
It will now be known as Ikara-Flinders Ranges National Park, with the word ‘Ikara’ meaning ‘meeting place’ in the local Adnyamathanha language. This has long been the traditional name for Wilpena Pound, the park’s natural amphitheatre of mountains.
At a re-naming ceremony yesterday, Traditional Lands Association (ATLA) chairman Michael Anderson said the change recognised the spiritual and cultural significance of the area for traditional owners.
“The Pound initially was a meeting place for ceremony, not just for our own groups but for other neighbours to come and hold ceremonies to discuss rules for life,” Mr Anderson said. “It has always been a significant part of our culture; we maintain Dreamtime stories about the Pound and how it was formed.”
The state’s Environment Minister Ian Hunter told the ABC he hoped the renaming would boost cultural tourism opportunities for local people.
“The more we can expand on this long cultural tradition, the more we can empower local communities to actually run cultural tourism enterprises and give people a real experience of real tradition,” he said. “The national park is part of the traditional country of the Adnyamathanha people and is of special spiritual and cultural significance to them.”
New directional and interpretive signs will now be installed in the park reflecting the name change.
