Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Ikara = meeting place.

Wilpena Pound, Flinders Ranges, South Australia. The name of the Pound, Wilpena, is reported to be Aboriginal, meaning "place of bent fingers"; this might either be a reference to the mountains resembling the shape of a gently cupped hand, or the freezing cold of the ranges in winter. The traditional owners, the Adnyamathanha, however, have no such word in their language. Their name for the Pound is Ikara which means "meeting place". It's not clear who named it: a somewhat discredited turn-of-the-century account has the surveyor B.H. Babbage naming it in 1856, but others says that the pastoralist George Marchant suggested the name while in the area in 1851, and the latter explanation is more likely.

What a fantastic shot by Peter Cardwell of the Pound from the air. So many people's favourite place. The ultimate hiding place for Captain Starlight's rustled cattle in the 1800s. No spotter planes then.

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