Wunaamin Miliwundi Ranges

Name

The European name, King Leopold Ranges, was given to the range on 6 June 1879 by the explorer Alexander Forrest, during an expedition in the Kimberley area, after King Leopold II of Belgium, "for the great interest taken by His Majesty in exploration".

There followed several proposals and attempts to rename the range, given its link to Leopold II of Belgium, whose reign over the Congo Free State beginning in 1885 is claimed to have resulted in the deaths of 10 to 15 million African people. Leopold had no connection with Western Australia, but a number of geographic features in the Pilbara and Kimberley were named after European royalty. Renaming was proposed in 2008, and again in 2017.

However, with the range spanning several different regions and native title claimant areas, negotiations with traditional owners to decide a name were complicated. In 2020, prompted by the removal of a statue of Leopold II in the city of Antwerp as part of a reconsideration of various names throughout the world, Lands Minister Ben Wyatt stated that he hoped to establish consensus on a name, with the two main native title groups and would then quickly proceed with the name change. The range was officially renamed as the Wunaamin Miliwundi Ranges on 1 July 2020 by Wyatt.

Physiography

The ranges are a distinct physiographic section of the larger Kimberley Block province, which in turn is part of the larger West Australian Shield division. The Wunnaamin Miliwundi Range is made up of many smaller ranges including; Lady Forrest Range, Isdell Range, Narrie Range, Sir John Range,Latitude: 17°35'22"S [Decimal Degrees -17.58944°] Longitude: 126°10'59.2"E [Decimal Degrees 126.1831°] Precipice RangeLatitude: 17°16'02"S [Decimal Degrees -17.26722°] Longitude: 125°36'19.1"E [Decimal Degrees 125.6053°] and Durack Range. Nearby features include Mount Hart, Bell Gorge, Silent Grove and Lennard Gorge as well as the Napier Range and Queen Victoria's Head granite outcrop. Fitzroy Bluff is formed where the Fitzroy River carves through the area. The ranges separate the main Kimberley plateau from the southern Fitzroy plains and consist of quartz sandstone intruded by dolerite. The ranges are shaped like a crescent with a length of 567 km running from the northern end of the Durack Range in the East to east of Secure Bay in the West Kimberley. The range is estimated to cover a total area of 30794 km2. The area has an average height 600 m. The highest point is found at Mount Wells which is 983 m above mean sea level. The next two highest peaks are Mount Ord at 936 m and Mount Broome at 927 m.

History

The traditional owners of the area are the Ngarinjin, Konejandi and Bunuba peoples.

Cattle were first overlanded across the range in 1903. Leaving from Fitzroy Crossing and used to stock Mount Barnett Station, the trip took over six weeks to complete.

Management

Crossed by the Gibb River Road about 134 km east of Derby, part of the ranges are covered by the 3921 km2 Miluwindi Conservation Park and the Wunaamin Conservation Park (both formerly part of King Leopold Range Conservation Park), managed by the Department of Parks and Wildlife.

Camping is permitted at Mount Hart Station, Bell Creek or at Silent Grove.

References

References

1. Forrest, Alexander. (8 Feb 1880). "From the De Grey to Port Darwin: Journal of Exploration". [[The West Australian]].
2. (12 June 2020). "Name of Belgian 'tyrant' king linked to millions of African deaths wiped from WA mountain range". www.abc.net.au.
3. (29 January 2017). "National park name move to topple king". The West Australian.
4. (12 June 2020). "Ben Wyatt announces King Leopold ranges in the Kimberley to be renamed". Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
5. (1 July 2020). "WA Government confirms King Leopold Ranges to be renamed the Wunaamin Miliwundi Ranges". Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
6. (3 July 2020). "King Leopold Ranges renamed to honour Aboriginal culture".
7. (3 July 2020). "Western Australia's King Leopold Ranges renamed Wunaamin Miliwundi Ranges".
8. From Geosciences Australia - Latitude: 17°25'34"S [Decimal Degrees -17.42611°] Longitude: 125°52'49.1"E [Decimal Degrees 125.8803°]
9. "Isdell". Canberra Division of National Mapping.
10. Latitude: 17°03'13"S [Decimal Degrees -17.05361°]Longitude: 125°21'29.2"E [Decimal Degrees 125.3581°]
11. Latitude: 17°30'35"S [Decimal Degrees -17.50972°] Longitude: 126°25'19.9"E [Decimal Degrees 126.4222°]
12. "A carved human figure from the Durack Ranges, Northwestern Australia".
13. Latitude: 16°47'31"S [Decimal Degrees -16.79194°] Longitude: 127°41'44.2"E [Decimal Degrees 127.6956°]
14. (2009). "Bonzle Digital Atlas - Map of King Leopold Ranges".
15. (2008). "Landgate Media Release - Proposal to rename King Leopold Ranges".
16. (2005). "AusAnthrop Australian Aboriginal tribal database".
17. (8 February 1949). "Veteran Is Survivor of Historic Overland Drive.". National Library of Australia.
18. Jacob, Albert. (30 January 2017). "New national park for the north Kimberley". [[Government of Western Australia]].
19. "Wunaamin Conservation Park".