Hendon Primary School Kaurna Garden

The Kaurna people have lived in the Adelaide area for over 40,000 years. Their country extended from Crystal Brook in the north to Cape Jervis in the south and including the Adelaide hills.   

 

The Kaurna lived in family groups of between 10

to 18 people. Each family group had a home

territory called ‘pangkarra’. The family group

stayed in their area because they had a spiritual

connection to it. One or more of the adults were

in charge of a number of sacred sites. Each area

was able to support the family in normal seasons.

 

Their lives were influenced by the seasons.

In summer they travelled widely. They came

together in certain areas for ceremonies and

trade. The Glenelg area and the banks of the

Torrens were popular meeting places. One of

the favourite places to camp were the beaches

and dunes. The dunes which ran along the coast

from Yerta Bulta (Semaphore) to Aldinga were ideal camping spots as they were warm and sheltered and fresh water could be found from the beach springs and nearby marshes and lagoons.  There were many different types of food available in the summer such as fish, crayfish, crabs, shellfish, ducks, geese, fruit, seed cones and gum to chew.

 

In autumn they prepared for winter – looking for a drier place to live, making clothes and hunting for food.

 

In winter, icy winds made life along the coast uncomfortable and when rivers and creeks flooded movement became more difficult. Groups move inland to the foothills for shelter. Animals such as possums and bandicoots provided food.

 

In spring people spread over the plains to the freshwater swamps behind the dunes. Grains, seeds, roots, water birds and eggs, kangaroos and wallabies provided food.

Aboriginal people referred to the land as their “Mother”. To all Aboriginal groups, including the Kaurna, it was the source of their life. The land reminded them of their ancestral spirits who created the land in the Dreaming and who still lived everywhere around them.

 

When settlers arrived in 1836 special missions or reserves were set up in different places around Adelaide and the Kaurna were expected to live there, often far away from their own lands or Dreaming places. This meant that their way of life changed dramatically by the Europeans.  As the colonists took possession of the land, the traditional Kaurna lifestyle was destroyed. Over the years the Kaurna people became very resilient and nowadays the Kaurna culture has become well respected both by other Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people.