Kaurna
Encyclopedia
The Kaurna people are a group of Indigenous Australians
whose traditional lands include the area around the Adelaide Plains
of South Australia
. Pronunciation of the word "Kaurna" varies slightly by the background and origin of the speaker; the most common is English (non-rhotic) ˈɡɑːnə, sometimes /ˈɡaʊnə/, native ɡ̊auɲa or, less often, [kʰana].
Kaurna culture and language was almost completely destroyed within a few decades of the European settlement of South Australia in 1836. However, extensive documentation by early missionaries and other researchers has enabled a modern revival of both language and culture.
in the 1920s. It most likely derives from the Ramindjeri
or Ngarrindjeri
word kornar meaning "men" or "people". Lewis O'Brien, a Kaurna Elder during the 1990s, suggested that a more appropriate name for his people might be Meyunna, from the local word for "people", meyu. However, "Kaurna" has been almost universally adopted by Kaurna and non-indigenous people alike to refer to the tribe of the Adelaide plains.
at the bottom of the Fleurieu Peninsula
to Port Wakefield
on the eastern shore of Gulf St Vincent, and as far north as Crystal Brook
in the Mid North
. Tindale claimed clans were found living in the vicinity of Snowtown
, Blyth
, Hoyleton
, Hamley Bridge, Clarendon
, Gawler
and Myponga
. The stringy bark forests of the Mount Lofty Ranges
have been claimed as a traditional boundary between "Kaurna" and Peramangk
people. Tunkalilla Beach (keinari), 20 kilometres (12.4 mi) east of Cape Jervis, is the traditional boundary with the Ramindjeri
.
This is the most widely cited alignment of "Kaurna" territorial boundaries. However the neighboring Ramindjeri tribe assert a historical territory including the whole southern portion of the Fleurieu Peninsula and Kangaroo Island
, extending as far north as Noarlunga
or even the River Torrens
. This overlaps a significant portion of the territory claimed by both the Kaurna and the neighboring Ngarrindjeri to the east. However, linguistic evidence suggests that the "Aborigines" encountered by Colonel Light
at Rapid Bay
in 1836 were "Kaurna" speakers. Ronald
and Catherine Berndt
's ethnographic study, which was conducted in the 1930s, identified six Ngarrindjeri clans occupying the coast from Cape Jervis to a few kilometers south of Adelaide. Berndt posits that the clans may have expanded along trade routes as the Kaurna were dispossessed by colonists.
A main Kaurna presence was in Tarndanyangga
("red kangaroo rock place") near the River Torrens
and the creeks that flowed into it, an area which became the site of the Adelaide city centre
. Kaurna also resided in the Burnside Suburb area; an early settler of the village of Beaumont
described the local people thus:
At every creek and gully you would see their wurlies [simple Aboriginal homes made out of twigs and grass] and their fires at night ... often as many as 500 to 600 would be camped in various places ... some behind the Botanic Gardens on the banks of the river; some toward the Ranges; some on the Waterfall Gully
.
society. Among their customs was the practice of fire-stick farming
(deliberately lit bushfires for hunting purposes) in the Adelaide Hills
, which the early European settlers spotted before the Kaurna were displaced. These fires were part of a scrub clearing process to encourage grass growth for Emu
and Kangaroo
. This tradition led to conflict with the colonists as the fires tended to cause considerable damage to farmland. In an official report, Major Thomas O'Halloran
claimed the Kaurna also used this as a weapon against the colonists by lighting fires to deliberately destroy fences, survey pegs and to scatter livestock. Due to this regular burning by the time the first Europeans arrived, the foothills' original Stringybark
forests had been largely replaced with grassland. Since the late 1960s, restrictions on foothills subdivision and development have allowed regeneration of native trees and bush to a "natural" condition that would never have actually existed.
epidemic which is thought to have originated in the eastern states and spread along the Murray River
as Indigenous groups traded with each other. As the first colonists had arrived in summer when the Kaurna traditionally moved from the plains to the foothills, the Adelaide area was settled without any conflict. The population again severely declined upon the arrival of Anglo-European colonial settlers with South Australia Governor Captain John Hindmarsh
as Commander in chief Proclamation December 1836 at Holdfast Bay
(now Glenelg
), from about 1000 members before settlement to 180 in 1856. An outbreak of typhoid, due to pollution by Europeans of the River Torrens
, lead to many deaths and a rapid population decline, though accurate figures were not recorded. In 1879 it was recorded that the Kaurna were extinct with 'no single trace of them remaining'. However, the last surviving full-blood Kaurna, a woman called Ivaritji, died in 1931.
Unlike the rest of Australia, South Australia was not considered to be terra nullius
. The enactment of the South Australia Act 1834
which enabled the province of South Australia to be established, acknowledged Aboriginal ownership and stated that no actions could be undertaken that would affect the rights of any Aboriginal natives of the said province to the actual occupation and enjoyment in their own persons or in the persons of their descendants of any land therein now actually occupied or enjoyed by such natives. Although the Act guaranteed land rights under force of law for the indigenous inhabitants, it was ignored by the South Australian Company authorities and squatters who interpreted the Act to mean "permanently occupied".
All the members in the yerta and different pangkarra were intimately linked, and therefore marriage between a man and a woman within the same yerta was forbidden. Girls became marriageable at puberty
, usually around 12 years of age. Conversely, men were only allowed to marry after the age of 25.
Sexual relations were relatively free and uninhibited, regardless of marital status. Kaurna ownership of property was communal; the reproductive organs were seen no differently to any other form of property, and thus adultery
was practically ubiquitous. The visitation of men from distant tribes was seen as a good opportunity to enhance the gene pool
. The practice of milla mangkondi or wife stealing was also common, for the same reason. Although this custom was bitterly hated by the victims, all Kaurna tribes are said to have engaged in it regularly.
The Kaurna performed circumcision
as an initiatory rite
and were the southernmost indigenous language group to do so.
, South Australia's third Governor, arrived in October 1838, he gave a speech to the local indigenous population through a translator, William Wyatt. Gawler actively encouraged the settlers to learn Kaurna, and advocated using the Kaurna names for geographic landmarks.
Two German missionaries, Clamor Schurmann and Christian Teichelmann, arrived on the same ship as Gawler in 1838, and immediately set about learning and documenting the language in order to civilise and "Christianise" the natives. In December 1839, they opened a school at Piltawodli (in the west Parklands
north of the River Torrens
) where the children were taught to read and write in Kaurna. Schurmann and Teichelmann translated the Ten Commandments and a number of German hymns into Kaurna, and although they never achieved their goal of translating the entire bible, their recorded vocabulary of over 2000 words was the largest wordlist recorded, and pivotal in the modern revival of the language.
claim on behalf of the Kaurna people. The claim covers over 8000 square kilometres (1,976,841.3 acre) of land stretching from Cape Jervis to Port Broughton, including the entire Adelaide
metropolitan area. As of April 2010, determination of the claim is ongoing. The Ramindjeri
people have contested the southern portion of the claim.
In 2009, a group called Encompass Technology wrote to the Governor of South Australia claiming sovereignty over the Marble Hill ruins
in the Adelaide Hills
, and the Warriparinga
Living Kaurna Cultural Centre in Marion
, and that they were owed nearly $50 million in rent. The South Australian Government rejected the claim.
Many places around Adelaide and the Fleurieu Peninsula have names either directly or partially derived from Kaurna. There are also a few Kaurna names hybridised with European words.
Other language groups in South Australia:
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
whose traditional lands include the area around the Adelaide Plains
Adelaide Plains
The Adelaide Plains is the area in South Australia between the Mount Lofty Ranges on the east and Gulf St Vincent on the west. The plains are generally fertile with annual rainfall of about per year....
of South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
. Pronunciation of the word "Kaurna" varies slightly by the background and origin of the speaker; the most common is English (non-rhotic) ˈɡɑːnə, sometimes /ˈɡaʊnə/, native ɡ̊auɲa or, less often, [kʰana].
Kaurna culture and language was almost completely destroyed within a few decades of the European settlement of South Australia in 1836. However, extensive documentation by early missionaries and other researchers has enabled a modern revival of both language and culture.
Etymology
The early settlers of South Australia referred to the indigenous inhabitants of the Adelaide Plains simply as "the Adelaide tribe". The name Kaurna was not widely used until popularised by Norman B. TindaleNorman Tindale
Norman Barnett Tindale was an Australian anthropologist, archaeologist and entomologist. Born in Perth, his family moved to Tokyo from 1907 to 1915, where his father worked as an accountant at the Salvation Army mission in Japan. Soon after returning to Australia, Tindale got a job at the South...
in the 1920s. It most likely derives from the Ramindjeri
Ramindjeri
Ramindjeri are a clan of Australian Aboriginal people forming part of the Ngarrindjeri people. Ramindjeri land is the most westerly of the Ngarrindjeri, covering the area around Encounter Bay in southern South Australia, including Victor Harbor and Port Elliot, however an ongoing native title...
or Ngarrindjeri
Ngarrindjeri
The Ngarrindjeri are a nation of eighteen "tribes" consisting of numerous family clans who speak similar dialects of the Ngarrindjeri language and are the traditional Aboriginal people of the lower Murray River, western Fleurieu Peninsula, and the Coorong of southern, central...
word kornar meaning "men" or "people". Lewis O'Brien, a Kaurna Elder during the 1990s, suggested that a more appropriate name for his people might be Meyunna, from the local word for "people", meyu. However, "Kaurna" has been almost universally adopted by Kaurna and non-indigenous people alike to refer to the tribe of the Adelaide plains.
Territory
Kaurna territory extended from Cape JervisCape Jervis, South Australia
Cape Jervis is a town at the southwestern tip of Fleurieu Peninsula in South Australia, approximately 108 km south of Adelaide. The population is approximately 300 people and growing rapidly, with a new estate situated behind the main town...
at the bottom of the Fleurieu Peninsula
Fleurieu Peninsula
The Fleurieu Peninsula is a peninsula located south of Adelaide in South Australia, Australia. It was named after the French explorer and hydrographer Charles Pierre Claret de Fleurieu by the French explorer Nicolas Baudin as he mapped the south coast of Australia in 1802.Towns of interest in the...
to Port Wakefield
Port Wakefield, South Australia
Port Wakefield was the first government town to be established north of the capital, Adelaide, in South Australia.Port Wakefield is situated approximately 98.7 kilometres from Adelaide and lies on the Port Wakefield Road section of the A1 National Highway...
on the eastern shore of Gulf St Vincent, and as far north as Crystal Brook
Crystal Brook, South Australia
Crystal Brook is a town in South Australia, named after the spring-fed creek next to which it was founded. It is north of Adelaide and in 2006 had a population of 1,185.Crystal Brook is situated on Goyder's Line near the border of two climate systems...
in the Mid North
Mid North
The Mid North is a region of South Australia, north of the Adelaide Plains, but not as far north as the Far North, or outback. It is generally accepted to extend from Spencer Gulf east to the Barrier Highway, including the coastal plain, the southern part of the Flinders Ranges, and the northern...
. Tindale claimed clans were found living in the vicinity of Snowtown
Snowtown, South Australia
The town of Snowtown is located in the Mid North of South Australia 145 km north of Adelaide and lies on the main route between Adelaide and Perth. The town's elevation is 103 metres and on average the town receives 389 mm of rainfall per annum.-History:...
, Blyth
Blyth, South Australia
Blyth is a small town in the Mid North of South Australia, located west of the renowned Clare Valley. It has a population of 306, the farming community spanning the plains between the Clare Hills and the Barunga/Hummocks ranges...
, Hoyleton
Hoyleton, South Australia
Hoyleton is a former railway town in South Australia, west of the Clare Valley, halfway between Leasingham and Halbury. At the 2006 census, Hoyleton had a population of 283....
, Hamley Bridge, Clarendon
Clarendon, South Australia
Clarendon is a small town in the Adelaide Hills, about 30 km south of the Adelaide CBD.The Clarendon Weir is located in the town area on the Onkaparinga River....
, Gawler
Gawler, South Australia
Gawler is the first country town in the state of South Australia, and is named after the second Governor of the colony of South Australia, George Gawler. It is located north of the centre of the state capital, Adelaide, and is close to the major wine producing district of the Barossa Valley...
and Myponga
Myponga, South Australia
Myponga is a settlement in South Australia. At the 2006 census, Myponga had a population of 540.-References:One of the first Pioneer Families to Settle the area, was the Family of CON POLDEN & MARY WINDSOR along with their children from Wiltshire SOUTH/WEST ENGLAND.-See also:*Myponga Reservoir...
. The stringy bark forests of the Mount Lofty Ranges
Mount Lofty Ranges
The Mount Lofty Ranges are the range of mountains just to the east of Adelaide in South Australia.-Location and description:The Mount Lofty Ranges stretch from the southernmost point of the Fleurieu Peninsula at Cape Jervis northwards for over before petering out north of Peterborough...
have been claimed as a traditional boundary between "Kaurna" and Peramangk
Peramangk
The Peramangk are an Indigenous Australian people whose traditional lands are primarily located in the Adelaide Hills, but also in the southern stretches of the Fleurieu Peninsula, South Australia...
people. Tunkalilla Beach (keinari), 20 kilometres (12.4 mi) east of Cape Jervis, is the traditional boundary with the Ramindjeri
Ramindjeri
Ramindjeri are a clan of Australian Aboriginal people forming part of the Ngarrindjeri people. Ramindjeri land is the most westerly of the Ngarrindjeri, covering the area around Encounter Bay in southern South Australia, including Victor Harbor and Port Elliot, however an ongoing native title...
.
This is the most widely cited alignment of "Kaurna" territorial boundaries. However the neighboring Ramindjeri tribe assert a historical territory including the whole southern portion of the Fleurieu Peninsula and Kangaroo Island
Kangaroo Island
Kangaroo Island is Australia's third-largest island after Tasmania and Melville Island. It is southwest of Adelaide at the entrance of Gulf St Vincent. Its closest point to the mainland is off Cape Jervis, on the tip of the Fleurieu Peninsula in the state of South Australia. The island is long...
, extending as far north as Noarlunga
Port Noarlunga, South Australia
Port Noarlunga is a suburb in the City of Onkaparinga, South Australia. It is a small sea-side suburb, population 2,549, about 30 km to the south of Adelaide and was originally created as a sea port. This area is now popular as a holiday destination or for permanent residents wishing to...
or even the River Torrens
River Torrens
The River Torrens is the most significant river of the Adelaide Plains and was one of the reasons for the siting of the city of Adelaide, capital of South Australia. It flows from its source in the Adelaide Hills near Mount Pleasant, across the Adelaide Plains, past the city centre and empties...
. This overlaps a significant portion of the territory claimed by both the Kaurna and the neighboring Ngarrindjeri to the east. However, linguistic evidence suggests that the "Aborigines" encountered by Colonel Light
William Light
Colonel William Light was a British military officer and the first Surveyor-General of the Colony of South Australia...
at Rapid Bay
Rapid Bay, South Australia
Rapid Bay is a small seaside town in the southwest of the Fleurieu Peninsula, South Australia. It is approximately 100 km south of the state capital, Adelaide...
in 1836 were "Kaurna" speakers. Ronald
Ronald Berndt
Ronald Murray Berndt was an Australian anthropologist. With his wife Catherine Berndt, they worked in the Northern Territory, in the Daly River....
and Catherine Berndt
Catherine Berndt
Catherine H. Berndt , born in Auckland, was an Australian anthropologist. She published valuable monographs on Aboriginal Australia, including Changing ceremonies in Northern Australia ....
's ethnographic study, which was conducted in the 1930s, identified six Ngarrindjeri clans occupying the coast from Cape Jervis to a few kilometers south of Adelaide. Berndt posits that the clans may have expanded along trade routes as the Kaurna were dispossessed by colonists.
A main Kaurna presence was in Tarndanyangga
Tarndanyangga
Tarndanyangga is the Kaurna word for red kangaroo dreaming or red kangaroo rock, and although is one half of the official name of Victoria Square, Adelaide, it was used in Kaurna language to refer to the greater area of what is now the immediate Adelaide city region.Tarndanyangga derives from...
("red kangaroo rock place") near the River Torrens
River Torrens
The River Torrens is the most significant river of the Adelaide Plains and was one of the reasons for the siting of the city of Adelaide, capital of South Australia. It flows from its source in the Adelaide Hills near Mount Pleasant, across the Adelaide Plains, past the city centre and empties...
and the creeks that flowed into it, an area which became the site of the Adelaide city centre
Adelaide city centre
The Adelaide city centre is the innermost locality of Greater Adelaide, known by locals simply as "The City" or "Town". The locality is split into two key geographical distinctions: the city "square mile", bordered by North, East, South and West Terraces; and that part of the Adelaide Parklands...
. Kaurna also resided in the Burnside Suburb area; an early settler of the village of Beaumont
Beaumont, South Australia
Beaumont is a suburb of Adelaide in the City of Burnside. Founded as a purpose-built village by Sir Samuel Davenport in 1848, it initially struggled due to high land prices in the area. However, with Adelaide's inevitable expansion residents eventually settled...
described the local people thus:
At every creek and gully you would see their wurlies [simple Aboriginal homes made out of twigs and grass] and their fires at night ... often as many as 500 to 600 would be camped in various places ... some behind the Botanic Gardens on the banks of the river; some toward the Ranges; some on the Waterfall Gully
Waterfall Gully, South Australia
Waterfall Gully is an outer suburb of the South Australian capital city of Adelaide. It is located in the foothills of the Mount Lofty Ranges around east-south-east of Adelaide's central business district . For the most part, the suburb encompasses one long gully with First Creek at its centre and...
.
Culture
The Kaurna people were a hunter-gathererHunter-gatherer
A hunter-gatherer or forage society is one in which most or all food is obtained from wild plants and animals, in contrast to agricultural societies which rely mainly on domesticated species. Hunting and gathering was the ancestral subsistence mode of Homo, and all modern humans were...
society. Among their customs was the practice of fire-stick farming
Fire-stick farming
Fire-stick farming is a term coined by Australian archaeologist Rhys Jones in 1969 to describe the practice of Indigenous Australians where fire was used regularly to burn vegetation to facilitate hunting and to change the composition of plant and animal species in an area.Fire-stick farming had...
(deliberately lit bushfires for hunting purposes) in the Adelaide Hills
Adelaide Hills
The Adelaide Hills are part of the Mount Lofty Ranges, east of the city of Adelaide in the state of South Australia. It is unofficially centred on the largest town in the area, Mount Barker, which has a population of around 29,000 and is also one of Australia's fastest growing towns.- History :The...
, which the early European settlers spotted before the Kaurna were displaced. These fires were part of a scrub clearing process to encourage grass growth for Emu
Emu
The Emu Dromaius novaehollandiae) is the largest bird native to Australia and the only extant member of the genus Dromaius. It is the second-largest extant bird in the world by height, after its ratite relative, the ostrich. There are three subspecies of Emus in Australia...
and Kangaroo
Kangaroo
A kangaroo is a marsupial from the family Macropodidae . In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, especially those of the genus Macropus, Red Kangaroo, Antilopine Kangaroo, Eastern Grey Kangaroo and Western Grey Kangaroo. Kangaroos are endemic to the country...
. This tradition led to conflict with the colonists as the fires tended to cause considerable damage to farmland. In an official report, Major Thomas O'Halloran
Thomas Shuldham O'Halloran
Thomas Shuldham O'Halloran was the first Police Commissioner and first Police Magistrate of South Australia.O'Halloran was born in India, the second of eight sons of Major-General Sir Joseph O'Halloran, and a grandson of Irish surgeon Sylvester O%27Halloran.He entered the Royal Military College,...
claimed the Kaurna also used this as a weapon against the colonists by lighting fires to deliberately destroy fences, survey pegs and to scatter livestock. Due to this regular burning by the time the first Europeans arrived, the foothills' original Stringybark
Stringybark
A stringybark can be any of the many Eucalyptus species which have thick, fibrous bark. Like all eucalypts, stringybarks belong to the Myrtaceae family. In exceptionally fertile locations some stringybark species A stringybark can be any of the many Eucalyptus species which have thick, fibrous...
forests had been largely replaced with grassland. Since the late 1960s, restrictions on foothills subdivision and development have allowed regeneration of native trees and bush to a "natural" condition that would never have actually existed.
Population
At the establishment of South Australia in 1836 the Kaurna population was around 500 with the first official report on population, by the Protector of Aborigines Matthew Moorhouse in 1841, noting a population of 650. The Kaurna population, which may have originally numbered up to 1000, had been seriously depleted in 1830 due to a smallpoxSmallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
epidemic which is thought to have originated in the eastern states and spread along the Murray River
Murray River
The Murray River is Australia's longest river. At in length, the Murray rises in the Australian Alps, draining the western side of Australia's highest mountains and, for most of its length, meanders across Australia's inland plains, forming the border between New South Wales and Victoria as it...
as Indigenous groups traded with each other. As the first colonists had arrived in summer when the Kaurna traditionally moved from the plains to the foothills, the Adelaide area was settled without any conflict. The population again severely declined upon the arrival of Anglo-European colonial settlers with South Australia Governor Captain John Hindmarsh
John Hindmarsh
Rear-Admiral Sir John Hindmarsh KH RN was a naval officer and the first Governor of South Australia, from 28 December 1836 to 16 July 1838.-Early life:...
as Commander in chief Proclamation December 1836 at Holdfast Bay
Holdfast Bay
Holdfast Bay is a small bay in Gulf St Vincent, next to Adelaide, South Australia. Along its shores lie the City of Holdfast Bay and the popular beach-side suburb of Glenelg.-European settlement:...
(now Glenelg
Glenelg, South Australia
Glenelg is a popular beach-side suburb of the South Australian capital of Adelaide. Located on the shore of Holdfast Bay in Gulf St Vincent, it has become a popular tourist destination due to its beach and many attractions, home to several hotels and dozens of restaurants.Established in 1836, it is...
), from about 1000 members before settlement to 180 in 1856. An outbreak of typhoid, due to pollution by Europeans of the River Torrens
River Torrens
The River Torrens is the most significant river of the Adelaide Plains and was one of the reasons for the siting of the city of Adelaide, capital of South Australia. It flows from its source in the Adelaide Hills near Mount Pleasant, across the Adelaide Plains, past the city centre and empties...
, lead to many deaths and a rapid population decline, though accurate figures were not recorded. In 1879 it was recorded that the Kaurna were extinct with 'no single trace of them remaining'. However, the last surviving full-blood Kaurna, a woman called Ivaritji, died in 1931.
Unlike the rest of Australia, South Australia was not considered to be terra nullius
Terra nullius
Terra nullius is a Latin expression deriving from Roman law meaning "land belonging to no one" , which is used in international law to describe territory which has never been subject to the sovereignty of any state, or over which any prior sovereign has expressly or implicitly relinquished...
. The enactment of the South Australia Act 1834
South Australia Act 1834
The South Australia Colonisation Act 1834 is the short title of an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom with the long title...
which enabled the province of South Australia to be established, acknowledged Aboriginal ownership and stated that no actions could be undertaken that would affect the rights of any Aboriginal natives of the said province to the actual occupation and enjoyment in their own persons or in the persons of their descendants of any land therein now actually occupied or enjoyed by such natives. Although the Act guaranteed land rights under force of law for the indigenous inhabitants, it was ignored by the South Australian Company authorities and squatters who interpreted the Act to mean "permanently occupied".
Tribal organisation
The Kaurna people lived in independent family structures in defined territories called pangkarra. Pangkarra always had access to the coastline and ran extensively inland. The coastline was essential for seafood hunting and the inland territories provided protection to the people during bad weather. The pangkarra were then grouped into larger areas of land called yerta. "Yerta" is defined as "a complete territory which is able to sustain a group with all economic necessities".All the members in the yerta and different pangkarra were intimately linked, and therefore marriage between a man and a woman within the same yerta was forbidden. Girls became marriageable at puberty
Puberty
Puberty is the process of physical changes by which a child's body matures into an adult body capable of reproduction, as initiated by hormonal signals from the brain to the gonads; the ovaries in a girl, the testes in a boy...
, usually around 12 years of age. Conversely, men were only allowed to marry after the age of 25.
Sexual relations were relatively free and uninhibited, regardless of marital status. Kaurna ownership of property was communal; the reproductive organs were seen no differently to any other form of property, and thus adultery
Adultery
Adultery is sexual infidelity to one's spouse, and is a form of extramarital sex. It originally referred only to sex between a woman who was married and a person other than her spouse. Even in cases of separation from one's spouse, an extramarital affair is still considered adultery.Adultery is...
was practically ubiquitous. The visitation of men from distant tribes was seen as a good opportunity to enhance the gene pool
Gene pool
In population genetics, a gene pool is the complete set of unique alleles in a species or population.- Description :A large gene pool indicates extensive genetic diversity, which is associated with robust populations that can survive bouts of intense selection...
. The practice of milla mangkondi or wife stealing was also common, for the same reason. Although this custom was bitterly hated by the victims, all Kaurna tribes are said to have engaged in it regularly.
The Kaurna performed circumcision
Circumcision
Male circumcision is the surgical removal of some or all of the foreskin from the penis. The word "circumcision" comes from Latin and ....
as an initiatory rite
Rite of passage
A rite of passage is a ritual event that marks a person's progress from one status to another. It is a universal phenomenon which can show anthropologists what social hierarchies, values and beliefs are important in specific cultures....
and were the southernmost indigenous language group to do so.
Documentation
A knowledge of Kaurna language and culture was keenly sought by many of the early settlers. William Williams and James Cronk were the first settlers to gain a working knowledge of the language, and to publish a Kaurna wordlist, which they did in 1840. When George GawlerGeorge Gawler
-External links: – Memorials and Monuments in Portsmouth, Hampshire, UK...
, South Australia's third Governor, arrived in October 1838, he gave a speech to the local indigenous population through a translator, William Wyatt. Gawler actively encouraged the settlers to learn Kaurna, and advocated using the Kaurna names for geographic landmarks.
Two German missionaries, Clamor Schurmann and Christian Teichelmann, arrived on the same ship as Gawler in 1838, and immediately set about learning and documenting the language in order to civilise and "Christianise" the natives. In December 1839, they opened a school at Piltawodli (in the west Parklands
Adelaide Park Lands
The Adelaide Park Lands are the parks that surround the centre of the South Australian capital city of Adelaide. They measure approximately 7.6 square kilometres in a green belt encircling the city centre....
north of the River Torrens
River Torrens
The River Torrens is the most significant river of the Adelaide Plains and was one of the reasons for the siting of the city of Adelaide, capital of South Australia. It flows from its source in the Adelaide Hills near Mount Pleasant, across the Adelaide Plains, past the city centre and empties...
) where the children were taught to read and write in Kaurna. Schurmann and Teichelmann translated the Ten Commandments and a number of German hymns into Kaurna, and although they never achieved their goal of translating the entire bible, their recorded vocabulary of over 2000 words was the largest wordlist recorded, and pivotal in the modern revival of the language.
Native Title Claims
In 2000, a group called Kaurna Yerta Corporation lodged a native titleNative title
Native title is the Australian version of the common law doctrine of aboriginal title.Native title is "the recognition by Australian law that some Indigenous people have rights and interests to their land that come from their traditional laws and customs"...
claim on behalf of the Kaurna people. The claim covers over 8000 square kilometres (1,976,841.3 acre) of land stretching from Cape Jervis to Port Broughton, including the entire Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
metropolitan area. As of April 2010, determination of the claim is ongoing. The Ramindjeri
Ramindjeri
Ramindjeri are a clan of Australian Aboriginal people forming part of the Ngarrindjeri people. Ramindjeri land is the most westerly of the Ngarrindjeri, covering the area around Encounter Bay in southern South Australia, including Victor Harbor and Port Elliot, however an ongoing native title...
people have contested the southern portion of the claim.
In 2009, a group called Encompass Technology wrote to the Governor of South Australia claiming sovereignty over the Marble Hill ruins
Marble Hill, South Australia
Marble Hill was the Vice-Regal summer residence for the Governor of South Australia from 1880 to 1955. It is also the name of a district of the Adelaide Hills Council, named after the residence and in which the residence is located...
in the Adelaide Hills
Adelaide Hills
The Adelaide Hills are part of the Mount Lofty Ranges, east of the city of Adelaide in the state of South Australia. It is unofficially centred on the largest town in the area, Mount Barker, which has a population of around 29,000 and is also one of Australia's fastest growing towns.- History :The...
, and the Warriparinga
Warriparinga
Warriparinga is a nature reserve comprising in the metropolitan suburb of Bedford Park, Marion, South Australia, in the southern suburbs of Adelaide. It has historical, cultural and environmental significance as a traditional Kaurna ceremonial meeting place and as a site of early European...
Living Kaurna Cultural Centre in Marion
Marion, South Australia
Marion is a suburb located in the City of Marion in Adelaide around 10 km south-west from the CBD. Founded as a rural village in 1838 on the banks of the Sturt River, Marion was found to have rich soil and the population expanded rapidly...
, and that they were owed nearly $50 million in rent. The South Australian Government rejected the claim.
Kaurna place names
Known Kaurna
- AldingaAldinga, South Australia.Aldinga -History:Matthew Flinders explored the area in 1802, during his circumnavigation of Australia. Aldinga was a flourishing settlement during the 1860s, when it served as a port for the Fleurieu Peninsula....
- Ngalti (meaning unknown) + locative suffix -ngga. - CowandillaCowandilla, South AustraliaCowandilla is a suburb of Adelaide, South Australia, in the City of West Torrens.It is located a few kilometres west of the CBD, and is adjacent to the Adelaide airport.-References:...
- kauanda, "north" + locative suffix -illa, hence "in the north". - KangarillaKangarilla, South AustraliaKangarilla is a town near Adelaide, South Australia. It lies within the City of Onkaparinga and has postcode 5157. At the 2006 census, Kangarilla had a population of 928.-History:...
- kanggari + locative suffix -illa. - Kondoparinga - possibly from kundo "chest" + parri "river" + locative suffix -ngga.
- NoarlungaPort Noarlunga, South AustraliaPort Noarlunga is a suburb in the City of Onkaparinga, South Australia. It is a small sea-side suburb, population 2,549, about 30 km to the south of Adelaide and was originally created as a sea port. This area is now popular as a holiday destination or for permanent residents wishing to...
- nurlo, "corner" + locative suffix -ngga, probably referring to Horseshoe Bend on the Onkaparinga RiverOnkaparinga RiverThe Onkaparinga River runs from its source between Mount Torrens and Charleston in the Mount Lofty Ranges, and flows south westerly to an estuary at Port Noarlunga. The catchment is over 500 km² in area, and is in part located in the Onkaparinga River National Park.The Onkaparinga River is the...
. - OnkaparingaOnkaparinga RiverThe Onkaparinga River runs from its source between Mount Torrens and Charleston in the Mount Lofty Ranges, and flows south westerly to an estuary at Port Noarlunga. The catchment is over 500 km² in area, and is in part located in the Onkaparinga River National Park.The Onkaparinga River is the...
- derived from nganki, "woman" + parri, "river" + locative suffix -ngga. - PatawalongaPatawalonga RiverThe Patawalonga River is a short river that was, before European settlement, a tidal estuary...
- derived from patta, a species of gum tree (possibly the swamp gumEucalyptus ovataEucalyptus ovata, commonly known as Swamp gum or Black Gum, is a widespread occurring Australian eucalypt.The swamp gum is a small to , medium sized tree, rarely a mallee, with bark that sheds over most of the trunk revealing a smooth, grey, whitish or pinkish-grey surface. The rough bark is...
) + wilya, "foliage" + locative suffix -ngga. - UraidlaUraidla, South AustraliaUraidla is a small town in the Adelaide Hills of South Australia, Australia. At the 2006 census, Uraidla had a population of 461.-History:Once the home of the Peramangk Aboriginal people, European settlement commenced in the mid nineteenth century, a primary school opened in 1871 and the town was...
- yurreidla, "two ears", derived from a dreaming story in which the Mount Lofty RangesMount Lofty RangesThe Mount Lofty Ranges are the range of mountains just to the east of Adelaide in South Australia.-Location and description:The Mount Lofty Ranges stretch from the southernmost point of the Fleurieu Peninsula at Cape Jervis northwards for over before petering out north of Peterborough...
are the body of a giant. - WillungaWillunga, South AustraliaWillunga is a town south of Adelaide, South Australia in the City of Onkaparinga local government area. It is 5 km away from the wine growing region of McLaren Vale and is approx. 47 km from the Adelaide CBD...
- - Willyaroo - wilyaru, a fully initiated adult man.
Possible Kaurna
- PiccadillyPiccadilly, South AustraliaPiccadilly is a small town in the Adelaide Hills of South Australia, Australia. At the 2006 census, Piccadilly had a population of 509.The Piccadilly Valley was for many decades a market gardening centre which produced food for the Adelaide and overseas market...
- Although usually assumed to be named after Piccadilly, London, it is likely to be an anglicisationAnglicisationAnglicisation, or anglicization , is the process of converting verbal or written elements of any other language into a form that is more comprehensible to an English speaker, or, more generally, of altering something such that it becomes English in form or character.The term most often refers to...
of the Kaurna pikodla, "two eyebrows", being part of the same dreaming story that gave rise to "Uraidla". - YankalillaYankalilla, South AustraliaYankalilla is an agriculturally-based town situated on the southern Fleurieu Peninsula in South Australia, located 72 km south of the state's capital of Adelaide...
- Although almost certainly an indigenous word, there are conflicting etymologies. The most likely is that it is derived from the Ramindjeri yangaiake, "hill", but with the Kaurna locative suffix -illa, or possibly yernkalyilla, "place of the fallen bits". - YatalaYatala Labour PrisonYatala Labour Prison is a low- to high-security men's prison in the northern suburbs of Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. It was built in 1854 to enable prisoners to work at the creek, quarrying rock for roads and construction...
- Most likely derived from the Kaurna yertalla, "water running by the side of a river".
Other
- GlenungaGlenunga, South AustraliaGlenunga is a small suburb of 2,539 people in the South Australian city of Adelaide. It is located three kilometres east of the Adelaide central business district . The name Glenunga is taken from an Aboriginal language and was given to the area by the natives before European settlement...
- Hybrid word comprising the ScotsScots languageScots is the Germanic language variety spoken in Lowland Scotland and parts of Ulster . It is sometimes called Lowland Scots to distinguish it from Scottish Gaelic, the Celtic language variety spoken in most of the western Highlands and in the Hebrides.Since there are no universally accepted...
glen and Kaurna locative suffix -ngga.
See also
- Indigenous AustraliansIndigenous AustraliansIndigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
- Kaurna languageKaurna language"Kaurna" is the language of the Kaurna people, an Australian aboriginal ethnic group, in South Australia. It was historically spoken on the Adelaide Plains from Crystal Brook and Clare in the north, to Cape Jervis in the south. It became extinct in the 19th century but was revived and reconstructed...
- History of AdelaideHistory of AdelaideThis article details the History of Adelaide from the first human activity in the region to the 20th century. Adelaide is a planned city founded in 1836 and the capital of South Australia.-Aboriginal settlement:...
- TjilbrukeTjilbrukeTjilbruke is an important Creation Ancestor folklore / law of the Kaurna people of the now known since 1836, Adelaide Plains Aboriginal creation story. The lore tells of a time when all the people lived in accord with peaceful trading Laws which governed all the peoples lives...
- Tjilbruke's Trail
Other language groups in South Australia:
- Adynyamathanha
- Arabunna
- Kokatha
- MirningMirningThe Mirning people are a group of Indigenous Australians whose traditional lands lie in the coastal region of the Great Australian Bight in the south-west of South Australia and bordering Western Australia.-People and Culture:...
- NarunggaNarunggaThe Narungga are a group of Indigenous Australians whose traditional lands are located on Yorke Peninsula, South Australia. The boundary of their traditional lands runs roughly between the towns of Port Broughton and Port Wakefield....
- NgadjuriNgadjuriThe Ngadjuri people are a group of Indigenous Australians whose traditional lands lie in the mid north of South Australia with a territory extending from Gawler in the south to Orroroo in the north...
- NgarrindjeriNgarrindjeriThe Ngarrindjeri are a nation of eighteen "tribes" consisting of numerous family clans who speak similar dialects of the Ngarrindjeri language and are the traditional Aboriginal people of the lower Murray River, western Fleurieu Peninsula, and the Coorong of southern, central...
- NukunuNukunuThe Nukunu people are a tribe of indigenous Australians who inhabited the coastal region of South Australia which now contains Port Pirie and Port Augusta. They once widely spoke the Nukunu language.-External links:* South Australian Museum...
- PeramangkPeramangkThe Peramangk are an Indigenous Australian people whose traditional lands are primarily located in the Adelaide Hills, but also in the southern stretches of the Fleurieu Peninsula, South Australia...
- Pitjantjatjara
- Yankunytjatjara