Community members will be given time to share their views on a council's plan to rename a creek which Aboriginal people and supporters say has racist and derogatory connotations.
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Hepburn Shire Council will hold a special meeting of council to hear public submissions on the proposed renaming of Jim Crow Creek, which runs from near Hepburn through Franklinford and Newstead.
Council ran a community consultation process during October and November last year on the proposed renaming of the creek to Larni Barramal Yaluk.
"The outcome of the community consultation indicated overall support for the proposal," a council officer's report said.
Fourteen people will speak to their submission during the special meeting on Tuesday night, ahead of council making its final decision on its position on the creek's name.
The outcome of the community consultation indicated overall support for the proposal.
- Council officer's report
Ten of those people are in support of the renaming and four are objecting, with some in opposition stating the name Jim Crow Creek was not derogatory and they wanted to maintain the current name for local history.
Representatives of the local traditional owners Dja Dja Wurrung recommended the name Larni Barramal Yaluk, meaning home or habitat of the Emu Creek.
Jim Crow is known as a racist term referring to 'black people' across the world and was applied to the 'Jim Crow Laws' in the United States from 1877.
Local historical sources indicate the name was likely first applied to the Mount Franklin/ Lalgambook area by Captain John Hepburn in the 1830s.
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The term was widely used across the region to refer to the mountain, the Aboriginal Protectorate at Franklinford, the creek, the goldfields, the district and individual Aboriginal people themselves.
Racially offensive names have been removed from other places, including Mount Jim Crow in Queensland being legally restored to the Darumbal name of Baga in 2018.
Many members of the Hepburn Shire community and Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation,have campaigned for more than a decade for Jim Crow Creek to be renamed.
Hepburn Shire Council will decide to make a recommendation on the naming of the creek, but the registrar at the Office of Geographic Names will make the final decision on the creek's name.
Part of the creek runs through Mount Alexander Shire which will also make a proposal on the naming of the creek.
Hepburn Shire Council will make a decision on its recommendation for the creek's name during the April council meeting.
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