G'day Misophist,

That sort of description of a place in terms of its resources is another type of naming - and common among first peoples of all nations. Here in Australia, we have the second city of the European settlement: Parramtta - which means place of eels (Hey ... It's all good tucker!) and the Sydney suburb where I was born: Kogarah - place of frogs (also good tucker ... if the French got here a few weeks earlier - those frogs would have been gone in a flash!).

In telling those 'names' the Aboriginal people were not so much 'naming' ... and certainly not 'claiming' ... they were telling others where the food resources could be found and harvested.

Regards,

Bob Bolton