Naming of Victoria and Tasmania

The History of the Naming of Victoria and Tasmania: Indigenous Country and Colonial Identity

The names Victoria and Tasmania are powerful reminders of how colonial naming practices imposed British identity onto Indigenous lands. Long before Europeans arrived, these regions were home to rich and distinct Indigenous nations, each with their own languages, territories, and names for Country — mountains, rivers, and coasts that embodied story and law.

The act of renaming these landscapes after monarchs and explorers such as Queen Victoria and Abel Tasman symbolised the assertion of European power and the erasure of Indigenous sovereignty (Reynolds 1987; Broome 2005). This article explores the layered history behind these names — from deep Indigenous knowledge of Country to the colonial identities imposed in the nineteenth century, and the ongoing revival of original place names today.

Victoria: From Kulin Country to Colonial Colony

Indigenous Names for the Land

For tens of thousands of years before colonisation, the region we now call Victoria was home to many Indigenous nations — including the Kulin Nations (Wurundjeri, Boon Wurrung, Taungurung, Wadawurrung, and Dja Dja Wurrung), the Gunditjmara, the Yorta Yorta, and the Gunai/Kurnai, among others (Clark & Heydon 2002; Broome 2005).

Each group had its own names for Country, rooted in language and ecology:

• Narrm (or Naarm) — the Woiwurrung and Boon Wurrung name for the area around present-day Melbourne.

• Gariwerd — the Jardwadjali and Djab Wurrung name for the Grampians mountain range.

• Millowl — the Boon Wurrung name for Phillip Island.

These names were not just geographical; they held cosmological meaning, connecting people to ancestors, creation stories, and responsibilities of care. There was no single name for all of what is now called Victoria, as identity was local and based on Country, not centralised borders (Clark & Heydon 2002).

Colonial Naming of Victoria

European explorers and settlers began using the term Port Phillip District in the early 1800s, following Lieutenant John Murray’s 1802 naming of Port Phillip Bay after Governor Arthur Phillip of New South Wales (Cannon 1991).

When British colonisation intensified after 1835 — led by figures such as John Batman and John Pascoe Fawkner — the region became an extension of New South Wales. In 1851, after separation from New South Wales, the new colony was officially named Victoria, in honour of Queen Victoria, who reigned from 1837 to 1901 (Reynolds 1987).

The name served as an emblem of loyalty to the Crown and the British Empire, asserting imperial sovereignty over Indigenous lands. It also symbolically displaced the Indigenous place names and law systems that had existed for millennia (Broome 2005).

Tasmania: From Lutruwita to Van Diemen’s Land and Back Again

Lutruwita — The Indigenous Name

For at least 40,000 years, Lutruwita (also known in some languages as Trowunna) has been home to the Palawa and Pakana peoples (Ryan 2012). The name Lutruwita refers to the island as a living Country — a place of ancestral law, water, and fire.

These names and languages carried intricate ecological and spiritual meanings, embedded in songlines and oral traditions. They are still spoken today as acts of cultural continuity and resistance to colonial erasure (Plomley 1966).

Van Diemen’s Land

In 1642, Dutch navigator Abel Tasman sighted the island and named it Van Diemen’s Land after Anthony van Diemen, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies, who had sponsored his voyage.
The British retained this name when they established a penal colony at Risdon Cove in 1803 and later at Hobart in 1804 (Ryan 2012).
By the 1820s, Van Diemen’s Land had become infamous throughout the empire as a harsh penal outpost.

Tasmania — A Renaming of Reputation

In 1856, the island was officially renamed Tasmania, drawing again from Abel Tasman’s name. The change was not just symbolic but strategic — an attempt to erase the island’s brutal penal reputation and attract free settlers (Reynolds 1987).
By that time, however, Indigenous Tasmanians had already suffered catastrophic loss through the Black War (1820s–1830s), forced removal to Wybalenna on Flinders Island, and disease brought by colonists (Ryan 2012).

The renaming reflected the colonial pattern of commemoration and erasure: European figures were immortalised while Indigenous names and histories were silenced.

Colonial Naming and Imperial Legacy

Queen Victoria’s Namesakes

The name Victoria spread throughout the British Empire as a mark of allegiance to monarchy and empire:

• Victoria (Australia), named in 1851.

• Queensland (1859), also honouring the Queen.

• Victoria Park, Port Victoria, and countless Victoria Streets across Australian cities.

• Overseas examples include Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe/Zambia), Victoria, British Columbia, and Lake Victoria in East Africa.

These names were imperial signposts, asserting Britain’s moral and political reach across the world (Reynolds 1987).

Abel Tasman’s Namesakes

Abel Tasman’s legacy also extended far beyond Tasmania:

• Tasman Sea, separating Australia and New Zealand.

• Tasman Peninsula (Tasmania).

• Tasman Glacier and Tasman District (New Zealand).

Although Tasman never landed on the shores he mapped, his name became woven into the colonial geography of Australasia — an enduring symbol of European exploration and maritime control (Ryan 2012; Plomley 1966).

The Significance of Renaming

Renaming land was not a neutral act — it was a form of colonial possession. By overwriting Indigenous place names with royal or European ones, colonisers laid linguistic claim to Country and reinforced narratives of “discovery” (Reynolds 1987; Clark & Heydon 2002).

This process ignored Indigenous sovereignty and the deep cultural systems that had existed long before European arrival. Names such as Victoria and Tasmania therefore embody both imperial celebration and cultural loss — the assertion of one world’s memory over another’s.

Modern Recognition and Cultural Revival

In recent decades, Indigenous communities and cultural organisations have led efforts to revive and reclaim traditional place names, as part of broader movements for truth-telling, heritage recognition, and sovereignty.

In Victoria, original place names such as Narrm (Melbourne), Gariwerd (Grampians), and Millowl (Phillip Island) are increasingly acknowledged in schools, museums, and public signage (Clark & Heydon 2002; Broome 2005).
In Tasmania, the name Lutruwita has re-emerged in Indigenous education, media, and language revitalisation projects, symbolising resilience and continuity (Ryan 2012).

Truth-telling initiatives such as the Yoorrook Justice Commission in Victoria and cultural heritage programs across Tasmania are helping to restore the visibility of Indigenous names and knowledge systems (Wadawurrung Traditional Owners 2023).
Globally, similar processes can be seen in the reinstatement of Aotearoa (New Zealand) and Uluru (Australia), reflecting a growing awareness that names carry memory, respect, and responsibility.

Conclusion

The histories of Victoria and Tasmania show how colonial naming reshaped identity and power across Indigenous lands. What were once regions defined by local language and ecological law — Narrm, Gariwerd, Millowl, Lutruwita — were renamed to celebrate monarchs and explorers, erasing cultural layers that had existed for tens of thousands of years.
Yet beneath these colonial names, the older truths remain. The revival of Indigenous place names is part of a larger journey toward justice and cultural renewal — recognising that the lands called Victoria and Tasmania have always been, and will always remain, Indigenous Country.

References (Harvard Style)

• Broome, R. (2005) Aboriginal Victorians: A History Since 1800. Sydney: Allen & Unwin.

• Cannon, M. (1991) Old Melbourne Town: Before the Gold Rush. Main Ridge: Loch Haven Books.

• Clark, I. D. and Heydon, T. (2002) Dictionary of Aboriginal Placenames of Victoria. Melbourne: Victorian Aboriginal Corporation for Languages.

• Plomley, N. J. B. (1966) Friendly Mission: The Tasmanian Journals and Papers of George Augustus Robinson 1829–1834. Hobart: Tasmanian Historical Research Association.

• Reynolds, H. (1987) The Law of the Land. Ringwood: Penguin.

• Ryan, L. (2012) Tasmanian Aborigines: A History Since 1803. Crows Nest: Allen & Unwin.

• Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation (2023) Caring for Country: Cultural Language and Place Names in Wadawurrung Country. Geelong.

Written, Researched and Directed by James Vegter (22 September 2025)

MLA

Sharing the truth of Indigenous and colonial history through film, education, land, and community.
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Magic Lands Alliance acknowledges the Traditional Owners, Custodians, and First Nations communities across Australia and internationally. We honour their enduring connection to the sky, land, waters, language, and culture. We pay respect to Elders past, present, and emerging, and to all First Peoples’ communities and language groups. This article draws only on publicly available information; many cultural practices remain the intellectual property of their respective communities.