Who are the Kaurna people?
The Kaurna are the Aboriginal people of the Adelaide Plains in South Australia, whose country stretches from around Crystal Brook in the north to Cape Jervis in the south.
Before colonisation, Kaurna people lived in family groups across the plains and coast, moving with the seasons. The River Torrens, called Karrawirra Parri, meaning red gum forest river, was central to their lives.
After Adelaide was founded in 1836, Kaurna people lost much of their land, and their language fell out of everyday use by the early 1900s.
Reviving a language
Two German missionaries, Christian Teichelmann and Clamor Schürmann, recorded Kaurna words in the 1840s. Since the 1990s, Kaurna people and linguists have used these records to revive the language, which is now taught and used in names.
Many Adelaide places now have Kaurna names, such as Tarntanya, the Kaurna name for the city centre area, and Tarndanyangga for Victoria Square.
Tjilbruke is an important ancestral figure whose journey along the coast is marked by memorials and springs. Kaurna elders give Welcomes to Country at major Adelaide events.
Did You Know?
Kaurna Warra Pintyanthi, a group based at the University of Adelaide, works to revive and develop the Kaurna language.