Aboriginal Peoples
Kaurna Warra (Kaurna language)
The first event of Heritage Fleurieu Coast Festival 2024 was in the Yankalilla Library, where Alison and Cherylynne who are part of Ngarrpadlarna Mila (The Five Aunties) , and also from the Tauondi Aboriginal College, talked about the history and revival of the Kaurna language (Kaurna warra).
In 1840, two German missionaries, Christian Gottlob Teichelmann and Clamor Wilhelm Schürmann produced ‘The Outlines of a Grammar, Vocabulary, and Phraseology of the Aboriginal Language of South Australia’ an early attempt to document the Kaurna warra. However, speaking the language was later forbidden by non-indigenous Australians, and Kaurna all but faded from use. Most likely, the Kaurna language was last spoken in a day-to-day context in the 1860s. Ivarityi (Amelia Savage) is recognised as the so-called ‘last speaker’ of the Kaurna language. When she passed away in 1929, the Kaurna language went into hibernation or ‘fell asleep’.
Since the early 1990s, Kaurna people and language specialists have been working at reclaiming the Kaurna language using historical records from the early colonial period of South Australia. Between 2000 and 2006, Kaurna warra was incorporated into the SACE (South Australian Certificate of Education) curriculum to Year 12 level. However, from 2006, the language slowly became less prominent in the curriculum.
The teaching of Kaurna warra is now undergoing another revival. In 2012, the first accredited training for future Kaurna community teachers commenced, and the Tauondi Aboriginal College continues to offer short courses in the language to Kaurna and non-Kaurna people. Dr Rob Amery from the University of Adelaide has dedicated his life to reviving Kaurna, and in 2022 published the first-ever English to Kaurna dictionary Kaurna Warrapiipa, Kaurna Dictionary - ebook: pdf.
As stated on the Kaurna Warra website:
In the foreseeable future, Kaurna language reclamation, revival and teaching will be directed by the Kaurna community itself. This will help to improve spiritual health, self-esteem, culture and identity, and a sense of belonging for the members of our Nation.
Dot Music: The Connection
Cheryl van Wageningen, proud descendant of the Peramangk/ Ngarrindjeri peoples, shared some of her story through music and words at the Heritage Fleurieu Coast event Dot Music – The Connection, on 18 May 2024 at the beautiful heritage-listed Christ Church, Yankalilla.
Cheryl was in her mid-thirties when she discovered her lost heritage as an aboriginal woman. She learnt that, at the age of three months, she had been removed from her mother and sent to Kate Cock’s Home, from where she was later adopted, growing up in various suburbs of Adelaide. Although she had always known that she was adopted, it was only when she was contacted by Link SA that she learnt of her Aboriginal Birth Mother – a member of the Stolen Generation. Cheryl also learnt that she had younger siblings with whom she was reunited.
Cheryl has had a lifetime passion for music and the piano, although it was only after raising her children, that she was able to apply for entry to the University of Adelaide. Firstly, through the Centre for Aboriginal Studies in Music (CASM) and later graduating with a Bachelor of Music from the Elder Conservatorium. She explained that she calls her work Dot Music in appreciation of three main influences. Dorothy (Dot) Schwab was a family friend who first encouraged her to learn the piano. It is also a reference to the dots which appear as notations on musical scores, and an acknowledgement of the style of many aboriginal paintings, dot paintings, a tribute to her aboriginal heritage.
Pieces played by Cheryl on her keyboard included several of her own compositions, The Coorong Trilogy (three relatively short pieces Day Dreaming at Dusk, Pelicans Rising and The Calling of the Coorong), Woven Threads a duet for piano and cello, Seaside Interludes and All Because of You. Some well-known classical pieces were included too, such as Für Elise by L. van Beethoven. Snippets of some contemporary pieces also featured that were reminiscent of time spent playing in a band with her older brother, a guitarist.
The event concluded with the showing of a short film Dot Music which Cheryl’s daughter Rebecca Wessels of Ochre Dawn Creative Industries directed to tell Cheryl’s story. The film was nominated for the 2019 Documentary of the Year at the South Australian Screen Awards and also a Finalist in The 2023 Antenna Awards held in Melbourne, Victoria.
The audience were deeply moved first by Cheryl’s music and by the telling of her story.
Launch of Feet on the Fleurieu
In November 2023, this much-anticipated book by Chester Schultz was launched. Entitled Feet on the Fleurieu, Language on the Land: Aboriginal women and men, their communities, and Kangaroo Islanders. Book 1: March 1802 – January 1837, the book documents the contribution of Aboriginal women and men to the early 19th century European explorations of the area as guides, interpreters and cultural mediators.
The book is also available for purchase online from MediaCom Education Inc. The book is available through the Libraries SA One Card network and also at libraries on the Fleurieu Peninsula and Encounter Bay.
Chester has also generously made the book available for free, downloadable from the Kaurna Warra website Feet on the Fleurieu Book 1 -Chester Schultz Nov 23. (27Mb).
Speakers at Launch (l to r): Chester Schultz, Klynton Wanganeen, Karl Telfer, Suzanne Russell, Gavin Malone, Rob Amery (Speaking), Jean Groome
Tjirbruki Munaintya (Tjilbruke Dreaming)
The Tjirbruki Munaintya extends geographically from the Adelaide Plains near Warriparinga, down the Fleurieu Peninsula to Cape Jervis, and across into country of the Ramindjeri (Rosetta Head/The Bluff) and Peramangk people (Brukunga/Adelaide Hills).
The story of Tjilbruke. Tjilbruke, also spelt Tjirbruki, is an important creation ancestor for Kaurna Meyunna. There are several versions of the Tjirbruki Munaintya which vary in detail and accuracy. Karl Winda Telfer, cultural custodian, and Gavin Malone, cultural geographer have written a Tjirbruki Munaintya Summary (Telfer & Malone) (PDF 130KB) which can be found on their CRED: Cultural Research Education Design website.
Dedication of plaque at Carrickalinga Head. On Sunday afternoon, 26 February 2023, Karl Winda Telfer, Burka, Mullawirra meyu (Senior Man, Dry forest people) led a moving dedication ceremony for a replacement plaque at Carrickalinga Head, one of the sites on the Tjilbruke Dreaming Track. The South Australian Governor, Her Excellency, Frances Adamson AO, spoke at the event, emphasising the importance of maintaining and preserving Aboriginal history of the region, delivering the first part of her address in Kaurna Meyunna language.
Karl Telfer, dedication ceremony Carrickalinga Head
Tjilbruke Dreaming Track replacement plaque
The memorialisation of the Tjilbruke Track was part of a life’s work of more than 50 years for Nganki Burka Mekauwe (Senior Woman of Water) Kaurna Meyunna yerta (Kaurna Meyunna country), the late Georgina Williams, Karl Telfer’s mother.
Named Aboriginal Places on the Western Fleurieu
From presentation held Saturday 21 May 2022, Yankalilla Uniting Church Hall
For those who expressed an interest on the day, here are the references mentioned during the presentation:
The full Place Name Summary (PNS) includes downloadable essays by Chester Schultz:
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Introduction to Kaurna Place Names essays project
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The Geography of Language Groups around Fleurieu Peninsula at First Contact
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Ask the right question, then look everywhere. (Presentation on Chester’s research methods)
The Kaurna Place Names website, by KWP (Kaurna Warra Pintyanthi) features a Google map with index & popup windows of public information.
See also the KWP website at www.kaurnawarra.org.au
Coast Scene near Rapid Bay. Sunset Natives Fishing with nets, c1847. G. F. Angas AGSA_sml (1)
