Kati Thanda: Understanding the Cultural Significance of Lake Eyre

Most visitors to Lake Eyre know it by that name — but the lake’s Traditional Custodians, the Arabana people, have known it as Kati Thanda for tens of thousands of years. Understanding this history isn’t just background context for a tour; it’s central to genuinely understanding the place you’re visiting.

Who Are the Arabana People?

The Arabana are the Traditional Custodians of the Lake Eyre Basin, a vast inland drainage system covering approximately 1.14 million square kilometres across South Australia, Queensland, the Northern Territory, and New South Wales. Their connection to this country predates European settlement by an estimated 50,000 years, making it one of the longest continuous cultural relationships with a landscape anywhere on Earth.

Arabana country encompasses not just Lake Eyre itself but the surrounding river systems — the Warburton, the Diamantina, the Georgina — the mound springs at Dalhousie and Witjira, and the Oodnadatta Track corridor that many visitors travel on their way to the lake.

What Kati Thanda Means

The name Kati Thanda translates loosely to ‘big lake’ in the Arabana language, though the cultural meaning embedded in the name carries far more significance than that simple translation suggests. The lake and its surrounding landscape feature prominently in Arabana Dreaming stories, connecting the physical geography to spiritual and ancestral narratives that have been maintained across generations.

Dual Naming — Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre

In 2012, the South Australian Government officially recognised the lake’s dual name — Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre — acknowledging both the traditional Arabana name and the European name given by explorer John Edward Eyre, who was the first European to reach the lake in 1840. The dual naming reflects the broader Australian movement toward acknowledging the depth and legitimacy of Indigenous place names alongside more recently given European ones.

Restrictions on Lake Access

Direct access to the lakebed itself is restricted, in part to protect the lake’s ecological fragility but also out of respect for its cultural significance to the Arabana people. Visitors should be aware that certain areas around the lake are sacred sites, and that the appropriate way to experience the lake — particularly from above on a scenic flight — is also the way that minimises impact on the landscape and its cultural significance.

Travelling Respectfully Through Arabana Country

Gekko Safari’s guides carry a genuine respect for the country we travel through on every tour, and we share that context with our groups as part of the experience rather than treating it as a footnote. Understanding where you are and who has cared for this country for thousands of years changes how you see the landscape — and, in our experience, makes the journey significantly more meaningful.