Everything about Kaurna totally explained
» For the state electoral district in South Australia, see Electoral district of Kaurna.
The
Kaurna (pronounced "Garner")people are a group of
Indigenous Australians whose traditional lands lie in and around the
Adelaide Plains of
South Australia.
Kaurna language is the spoken language of the Kaurna people.
Lands
The traditional Kaurna cover the regions of
South Australia from
Cape Jervis at the bottom of the
Fleurieu Peninsula to
Port Wakefield on the eastern shore of
Gulf Saint Vincent and as far north as
Crystal Brook in the
Mid North. Their lands were bordered by those of the
Peramangk and
Ngadjuri to the East,
Nukunu to the North and the
Narangga to the West.
Tribes were also found at
Snowtown,
Blyth,
Hoyleton,
Hamley Bridge,
Clarendon,
Gawler and
Myponga, where they were sometimes known as Nantuwara. The Jultiwira (stringy bark forests) of the
Mount Lofty Ranges was a boundary. Between
Hamley Bridge and
Crystal Brook, they were known as
Padnaindi. Little is known of the usage of the Adelaide Plains by the Kaurna but it naturally serves as a hunting and gathering route. In
1836, at the first arrival of European settlers, fires were observed burning along the coast. These fires were part of the Kaurna's scrub clearing to encourage the growth of grass for
Emu and
Kangaroo. The population again severely declined upon the arrival of European settlers in
1836 at
Holdfast Bay (now
Glenelg), from about 1000 members before settlement to 180 in
1856.
The land was considered to be
terra nullius by the enactment of the South Australia Act on
14 August 1834 by the British Parliament.
Pangkarra and yerta
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 subgroups called
yerta. All the members in the yerta and different pangkarra were intimately linked. Marriage between a man and a woman within the same yerta was forbidden. The Kaurna performed circumcision as an initiatory right and were the southernmost indigenous tribe to do so.
Other names
Some of the names by which the Kaurna people are also known include: Kaura (misprint), Coorna, Koornawarra, Nantuwara (in relation to the Northern yerta "Kanagaroo Speakers"), Nantuwaru, Nganawara, Meljurna or Meyukattanna (in relation to the Northern yerta 'quarrelsome men', as named by the Southern yerta).
Further Information
Get more info on 'Kaurna'.
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