The Wunaamin Miliwundi Ranges [1] (formerly between 1879 and 2020, the King Leopold Ranges) are a range of hills in the western Kimberley region of Western Australia.
There are two conservation parks within the ranges, the Wunaamin Conservation Park (in Wilinggin land) and Miluwindi Conservation Park (in Bunuba land), both formerly part of the King Leopold Ranges Conservation Park.
The range was named on 6 June 1879 by the explorer Alexander Forrest, during an expedition in the Kimberley area, after King Leopold II of Belgium, "for the great interest taken by His Majesty in exploration". [2]
There had been several proposals and attempts to rename the range, given its link to Leopold II of Belgium, whose reign over the Congo Free State beginning in 1885 is claimed to have resulted in the deaths of 10 to 15 million African people. [3] Leopold had no connection with Western Australia, but a number of geographic features in the Pilbara and Kimberley were named after European royalty. [3] The renaming was proposed in 2008, and again in 2017, [4] but was delayed as due to the range's size spanning several different regions and native title claimant areas, negotiations with traditional owners to decide a name were ongoing. In 2020, prompted by the removal of a statue of Leopold II in the city of Antwerp as part of a reconsideration of various names throughout the world, Lands Minister Ben Wyatt stated that he hoped to establish consensus on a name with the two main native title groups and would then quickly proceed with the name change. [3] [5]
The range was officially renamed on the 1 July 2020 by Lands Minister Ben Wyatt. [1] [6] [7]
The ranges are a distinct physiographic section of the larger Kimberley Block province, which in turn is part of the larger West Australian Shield division. The Wunnaamin Miliwundi Range is made up of many smaller ranges including; Lady Forrest Range, [8] Isdell Range, [9] [10] Narrie Range, [11] Sir John Range, [12] Precipice Range [13] and Durack Range. [14] [15] Nearby features include Mount Hart, Bell Gorge, Silent Grove and Lennard Gorge as well as the Napier Range and Queen Victoria's Head granite outcrop. Fitzroy Bluff is formed where the Fitzroy River carves through the area. The ranges separate the main Kimberley plateau from the southern Fitzroy plains and consist of quartz sandstone intruded by dolerite. The ranges are shaped like a crescent with a length of 567 kilometres (352 mi) running from the northern end of the Durack Range in the East to east of Secure Bay in the West Kimberley. The range is estimated to cover a total area of 30,794 square kilometres (11,890 sq mi). [16] The area has an average height 600 metres (1,969 ft). The highest point is found at Mount Wells which is 983 metres (3,225 ft) above mean sea level. [17] The next two highest peaks are Mount Ord at 936 metres (3,071 ft) and Mount Broome at 927 metres (3,041 ft).
The traditional owners of the area are the Ngarinjin, Konejandi and Bunuba peoples. [18]
Cattle were first overlanded across the range in 1903. Leaving from Fitzroy Crossing and used to stock Mount Barnett Station, the trip took over six weeks to complete. [19]
Crossed by the Gibb River Road about 134 km (83 mi) east of Derby, part of the ranges are covered by the 3,921 km2 (1,514 sq mi) Miluwindi Conservation Park and the Wunaamin Conservation Park (both formerly part of King Leopold Range Conservation Park), [20] managed by the Department of Parks and Wildlife. [21]
Camping is permitted at Mount Hart Station, Bell Creek or at Silent Grove.
The Kimberley is the northernmost of the nine regions of Western Australia. It is bordered on the west by the Indian Ocean, on the north by the Timor Sea, on the south by the Great Sandy and Tanami deserts in the region of the Pilbara, and on the east by the Northern Territory.
Fitzroy Crossing is a small town in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, 400 kilometres (250 mi) east of Broome and 300 kilometres (190 mi) west of Halls Creek. It is approximately 2,524 kilometres (1,568 mi) from the state capital of Perth. It is 114 metres (374 ft) above sea level and is situated on a low rise surrounded by the vast floodplains of the Fitzroy River and its tributary Margaret River.
Jandamarra or Tjandamurra, known to European settlers as Pigeon, was an Aboriginal Australian man of the Bunuba people who led one of many organised armed insurrections against the European colonisation of Australia. Initially employed as a tracker for the police, he became a fugitive when he was forced to capture his own people. He led a three-year campaign against police and European settlers, achieving legendary status for his hit and run tactics and his abilities to hide and disappear. Jandamarra was eventually killed by another tracker at Tunnel Creek on 1 April 1897. His body was buried by his family at the Napier Range, where it was placed inside a boab tree. Jandamarra's life has been the subject of two novels, Ion Idriess's Outlaws of the Leopold (1952) and Mudrooroo's Long Live Sandawarra (1972), a non-fiction account based on oral tradition, Jandamurra and the Bunuba Resistance, and a stage play.
The Fitzroy River is located in the West Kimberley region of Western Australia. It has 20 tributaries and its catchment occupies an area of 93,829 square kilometres (36,228 sq mi), within the Canning Basin and the Timor Sea drainage division.
The Napier Ranges are located in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. The range is south of and runs parallel to the Wunaamin-Miliwundi Ranges.
Mornington Sanctuary, formerly Mornington Station, is a 3,582 km2 (1,383 sq mi) nature reserve in the Kimberley region of north-west Western Australia. It contains the Mornington Wilderness Camp and is owned and managed by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC). It lies in the Pentecost subregion of the Central Kimberley Bioregion.
Isdell River is a river in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, named in 1898 by explorer Frank Hann after James Isdell, who was prominent in the region and later served as a member of parliament.
The Margaret River is a river in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.
The Richenda River is a river in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.
The Adcock River is a river in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.
Easton Land District is a land district of Western Australia, in the Kimberley Land Division in the Kimberley region of the state.
Mount Hart Station, commonly referred to as Mount Hart, is a defunct pastoral lease that once operated as a cattle station in Western Australia. The lands are part of a conservation area and the homestead operates as a wilderness lodge for tourists.
Mount House Station, commonly referred to as Mount House, is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station in Western Australia.
The Bunuba are a group of Indigenous Australians and are one of the traditional owners of the southern West Kimberley, in Western Australia. Many now live in and around the town of Fitzroy Crossing.
The Balili Conservation Park or Devonian Reef Conservation Park is an Australian protected area and is located in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, about 50km North-West of Fitzroy Crossing. It includes Geikie Gorge National Park, Tunnel Creek National Park and Windjana Gorge National Park.
Over the Range: Sunshine and Shadow in the Kimberley is a 1937 book by Ion Idriess about life in the Kimberley region in Western Australia.
The Ngarinyin or Ngarinjin are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Their language, Ngarinyin, is also known as Ungarinyin. When referring to their traditional lands, they refer to themselves as Wilinggin people.
The Unggumi, also written Ongkomi, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Kimberley region of Western Australian.
The Wurla, also written Ola, or Waladjangarri, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Kimberley region of Western Australia
Media related to Wunaamin Miliwundi Ranges at Wikimedia Commons