On Tuesday 18 July an emotionally moving event was held at Franklinford Streamside Reserve to honour the new name given to what was known as Jim Crow Creek.
The creek is now called Larni Barramal Yaluk, which translates to "the creek that flows through the home or dreaming place of the emu".
After more than a decade of advocacy from Dja Dja Wurrung leaders, the creek was renamed earlier this year.
Dja Dja Wurrung Group chief executive Rodney Carter said the creek has finally been liberated.
"The creek has an identity and a spirit," he said.
"We are at last affording it the respect it deserves by giving back its name — to now say its name is speaking to country in the most beautiful way."
This renaming ceremony happened during the United Nation's Decade of Indigenous Languages (2022 to 2032) and was celebrated with a Smoking and Wominjeka to country performed by traditional owner Uncle Rick Nelson.
This initiative recognises the importance of preserving and reviving Indigenous languages, as many of them are in danger of disappearing forever.
The creek became part of the Franklinford Aboriginal mission station when it was in use up to 1867 and at the time was known as 'Black Protectorates Creek'.
The current name of Jim Crow was given to the site in 1890. Known widely as a racist and derogatory term, Jim Crow refers to racial segregation laws that were active in the United States.
Both Hepburn Shire Council and Mount Alexander Shire Councils voted unanimously for the change, but there were several objections submitted.
Local community and officials gathered to celebrate at a well known bend in the river where the local Gunangarra clan people of the Dja Dja Wurrung had camped , hunted, cooked and celebrated traditional customs for thousands of years, and now feels like renewed place of traditional culture , with spirits revived and lifted by the renaming.
The initiative aims to reinstate Dja Dja Wurrung language back into Country, and to recognise and pay homage to the area's Aboriginal heritage.
For more information on Dja Dja Wurrung and Hepburn Shire Council:
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