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Outback road sign with Alice Springs crossed off and replaced with its Indigenous name sparks furious debate
- Sign between Alice Springs and Hermannsburg in Northern Territory defaced
- English names crossed out and then replaced with Indigenous places names
- Photo of the vandalism sparked debate over the issue of language on road signs
A photograph of a defaced road sign in the outback has sparked a fierce debate on social media about whether Indigenous place names should used.
The image showed the names Alice Springs and Hermannsburg on Larapinta Drive, in the Northern Territory crossed out with white paint.
‘Mparntwe’ and ‘Ntaria’ – as those towns are known to the respective local Indigenous communities, Arrernte and Western Aranda – were painted onto the sign.
This vandalised Northern Territory road sign generated heated debate on Facebook over whether the change was justified, an inevitable change – or just vandalism
Spot the difference: the officially renamed road sign pointing to Uluru
The road sign was also graffitied with the letters ACAB – a political acronym that means: ‘All cops are b*****ds’.
The Common Ground Australia Facebook page captioned the photo: ‘Across Australia there is a growing movement of reclaiming traditional place names in First Nations languages.’
‘Using traditional place names in conversation, on signs and any other references is an amazing step towards recognising the sovereignty First Nations people still hold across Australia.
‘When we recognise and embed language, we centre First Nations people, culture and Country.’
But not everybody agreed and the post generated fierce debate, with several unhappy at what they saw as vandalism.
One man wrote: ‘I applaud the spirit of the action however I feel the crossing out of European names spoils the message.’
‘At this time of what hopefully is a transition and a bringing about of new values perhaps the names should have stood together so as to educate rather than challenge.’
More than one commenter was curious about how to say the Indigenous names.
‘As an older person, I would love to see how to pronounce these names,’ a woman wrote.
‘I do agree that this is an important move.’
Many people suggested a compromise – using both the Indigenous and English or Colonial place names.
They pointed out that bilingual road and street signs are common in many countries – including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and New Zealand.
New Zealand’s tallest mountain, Mt Cook, was renamed Aoraki/Mount Cook in 1998.
Some place names in Australia have been renamed over time too, most notably Ayers Rock which in was re-labelled Uluru/Ayers Rock in 1993.
In Adelaide, 39 sites including many of the city’s parks were dual-named by 2003 in acknowledgement of the local Kaurna people.
Bilingual signage is common too in some of Australia’s biggest cities were large immigrant populations live who may not speak English at home, or to acknowledge non-English speaking tourists – such Chinatown in Sydney.
Bilingual road signs can be found in some areas of the United States, Canada, New Zealand and United Kingdom. Pictured is an Gaelic/English road sign at Invermoriston in the United Kingdom
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