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Canberry
also:
Ngambri, Kamberri, Caarnberra, Karnberra, Kemberry, Kgemberry,
Ngambra, Nganbri, Ngambra, Gnabra, Canberra

The name Canberra, formerly rendered into Roman script as ‘Canburry’ or ‘Canberry’ by the earliest non-Aboriginal settlers, derived from the name of the Aboriginal ancestral group who once held sway in the region that now incorporates the Australian Capital Territory and surrounding areas. The Ngunnawal and Ngambri people’s neighbours are the Gundungurra to the north, the Ngarigo to the south, the Yuin on the coast, and the Wiradjuri inland.

‘Canberra’ was a corruption of the earlier anglicised version, ‘Canberry’, of the original Aboriginal name for this territory: Ngambri. This name for the district, ‘Canberry’, was proclaimed in the Government Gazette, 22 January 1834 and was officially known from that time. It was eventually changed to ‘Canberra’, perhaps to make it sound more European.

JJ Moore’s ‘Canberry Station’, now the site of the National Museum of Australia, the Australian National University (ANU) and Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS), was built on a major corroboree ground, much of which is now under the waters of Lake
Burley Griffin.