Dr Micha Campbell on Nostr: During a chat with a colleague last week, he asked me how to pronounce Lake Eyre. I ...

During a chat with a colleague last week, he asked me how to pronounce Lake Eyre. I replied, well it's like air, but nowadays we call it Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre. His response was that, yes, that's the Indigenous name (implying that he was happy to use just Lake Eyre).

If you are working in Australia, please understand that we are in a long process of correcting past injustices, working to use original place names, and remove racist place names. In some instances (Uluru, Kati-Thanda) these changes are official, and coloniser names (e.g. Ayers Rock) should not be used.

Anyway, this isn't a slight against my very friendly colleague. I understand that Australia is a long way away, and the intricacies of rectifying colonial mistakes are complex. But if you are working in Australia, please make an effort to use the correct place names, acknowledge when you're working on Country (and work with some Australians!).