Indigenous peoples of Nepal constitute more than one third of the total population, yet they experience significant marginalization contributing to inequalities in relation to health, education and political participation. We must ask, ‘why do we name?’ and ‘how do we name?’ before we can understand what the problems encountered with naming and changing names are.
It is important to take a moment to reflect upon the processes of place naming, before discussion of the current project can begin. Difficulties arose in multiple areas of the review process. This attempt at recognising historical and contemporary associations with the State forest areas proved to be a challenge. It was understood by the researchers that place names were markers of national, regional, local and personal identity, and as such, part of the State forest review concentrated on recognising all the various historical and contemporary identities apparent in the Midlands region. This pilot study program focussed on producing a best practice model for naming State forest areas, which would then be utilised for all State forests across Victoria. The authors were assisted in this process by a steering committee which had representatives from DSE, Aboriginal Affairs Victoria (AAV) and the Victorian Aboriginal Corporation for Languages (VACL). Thus, the Victorian Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) employed the researchers to undertake a pilot study program, investigating different methods for officially naming the State forests in the Midlands Region of Victoria. By the beginning of 2004 over 90 percent of State forests in Victoria did not have officially registered names in the Australian Gazetteer. Such Euro-centric focused governance and management of the development of Australia understanding of the landscape was strongly exemplified during a recent six-month review of State forest names in Victoria. This perspective has lead to a coloniallytainted sense of place for non-Indigenous (and some Indigenous) Australians. Colonial government guidelines have ‘controlled’ the knowledge base of understanding of the landscape for non-Indigenous Australians. Since the time of European exploration of Australia, the topography of the continent has been mapped from a colonial cartographic perspective.
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