Examining a map of the Moreton Bay region reveals that many place names are rooted in the languages of the First Nations Peoples, particularly the Kabi Kabi (Gubbi Gubbi) People, the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the lands stretching north of the Pine River, including Petrie, Redcliffe and Caboolture, and extending to the Conondale Ranges and Kilkivan.
Early explorer Tom Petrie named his property Murrumba, a Gubbi Gubbi word signifying ‘good.’ This word, along with names like Murrumba Downs, Undurba (State School) and Yebri (meaning ‘to put or lay down’), reflects the influence of the Kabi Kabi language. Kalangoor (now Kallangur) means ‘a satisfactory place’ in the Kabi Kabi-Undambi dialect, while Narangba is a Yuggera word thought to mean ‘small place’.
The name Humpybong is believed to stem from Oopie-bong, a name given to Redcliffe’s deserted first settlement buildings. It remained a popular local name for Redcliffe until the 1930s.
Stories in the Names: Culture, Totems and Country
First Nations place names often reflected landscape features or food sources. In many Aboriginal languages, repeating the word indicates many. For example, the distinctive cliffs of Redcliffe were called Kau-in Kau-in, meaning ‘blood blood’ – a reference to their red colour. The Turrbal word for coastal land was Moora (as in Moora Park), while Warra described open sheets of water. Buderim referred to the Hairpin or Honeysuckle Banksia, while Mudjimba referenced the midyim berry, which grows locally.
According to Kabi Kabi artist and educator Lyndon Davis, place names were associated with totem animals or animal sounds prolific in a region. Rainbow lorikeets are Beer, and Burrum means ‘wind’, giving rise to the name Beerburrum, meaning ‘the wind is coming’.
Words like Goong (water) and Goongal (good, clean springs) are linked to sites like Kondalilla Waterfall, which takes its name from Goongdalilla, a word meaning ‘water rushing over rocks’. Ningi Ningi is a Turrbal word for mosquito, while Ningi also referred to oysters and crabs, suggesting a possible origin for the name of Ningi Creek near Toorbul.
Tibrogargan referred to the Greater Gilder (flying possum) and the Glasshouse Mountain’s summit was thought to resemble the glider’s defensive posture when threatened.
A Kippa was a young man, and Kippa-Ring referred to a ceremonial bora ring where neighbouring First Nation Peoples gathered for rituals and initiations.
Caboolture is believed to come from Kabul (carpet snake) and Tur (place of) in the Yugarabul dialect, meaning ‘a place of carpet snakes’ (Kabultur). People revered the snake, so abundant near the river, considering them Dreamtime serpents responsible for creating the rivers of Moreton Bay.
Other place names derived from First Nations languages include:
- Elimbah – from Yilam, meaning ‘grey snake’
- Moodlu – ‘stone’
- Bli-bli – ‘place of many forest or swamp she-oaks’
- Woorim – from Wurama, meaning ‘red-backed sea eagle’
- Moreton Island – Mulgumpin, meaning ‘place of sand hills’
These names carry deep cultural and spiritual meaning, representing an enduring connection to Country, language and ancestral knowledge.
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- It’s All in the Detail
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