The etymology of Coober Pedy, South Australia

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to outline and assess the diverging etymologies of 'Coober Pedy' in northern South Australia, in the search for original and post-contact local Indigenous significance associated with the name and the region. At the interface of contemporary Yankunytjatjara and Pitjantjatjara opinion (mainly in the Coober Pedy region, where I have conducted fieldwork since 1999) and other sources, an interesting picture emerges: in the current use by Yankunytjatjara and Pitjantjatjara people as well as non-Indigenous people in Coober Pedy, the name 'Coober Pedy' - as 'white man's hole (in the ground)' - does not seem to reflect or point toward a pre-contact Indigenous presence.