Bill Watt , Manager of the Roads and Crown Support Section, Land Services group, Department of Transport Energy and Infrastructure, has been involved in mapping and land information for over 35 years. For the last 20 years, he has been involved in the issues associated with place naming in South Australia, which has led to his involvement with the United Nations group of Experts on Geographical Names (UNGEGN). He is currently the convener of the UNGEGN Working Group on the Promotion of the Recording and Use of Indigenous, Minority and regional Language group Place Names.

Over a number of years, cartographers have developed a standard method of representing real life features in a mapping environment, and by doing so have educated the map users into a position of acceptance of the symbols used and an almost automatic identification with the types of features in association with a general representation.

So what happens when map makers are confronted with information from a different cultural perspective?

This paper will discuss the use of mapping to represent Indigenous culture ins Australia, and consider alternative methods of symbolisation to effectively represent the cultural relationship with land.